West Ham United moved out of the relegation zone with a thumping win on Friday, as Konstantinos Mavropanos (£4.4m), Jarrod Bowen (£7.6m) and Taty Castellanos (£5.5m) rewarded their Fantasy Premier League (FPL) owners with an avalanche of points.
Here are our Scout Notes from the London Stadium.
MAVROPANOS’ HUGE HAUL
Budget defender Mavropanos maintained his fine form in both boxes, with a clean sheet and an unexpected brace, which resulted in a huge haul for his small army of owners.
Mavropanos, who now has three goals in as many Gameweeks, put West Ham ahead with a brilliant header, before a very decent volley at the back post late on.
“Dinos is scoring. Every time he goes forward, he creates danger. I think our consistency on delivering on the set pieces is improving. It’s a huge moment in the game. At the same time, I think we were strong, the way we defended. But we are delighted with Dinos, I hope it continues.” – Nuno Espirito Santo on Konstantinos Mavropanos
It looks like Mavropanos may lose his defensive contribution (DefCon) points from Gameweek 32.
After the Opta refresh, he’s down to nine contributions now (see below) – and we’ll likely see that reflected in the adjusted FPL scores tonight.
However, with goal threat, a 56% DefCon success rate over the season and an improving partnership with Axel Disasi (£4.5m), Mavropanos will be a popular pick in Blank Gameweek 34, when West Ham host Everton and six teams are without a fixture.
TATY X PABLO + BOWEN’S ASSISTS
There were plenty of other positives for West Ham to take from Friday’s win, particularly from an attacking perspective.
Crysencio Summerville (£5.5m) returned to action for the first time since suffering a calf injury in the FA Cup, Taty netted a much-needed brace and Bowen provided three assists.
Even Pablo Felipe (£5.4m) played his part.
Furthermore, with multiple goalscoring threats in Nuno Espirito Santo’s 4-4-2, a successful blueprint has potentially been established.
“The combinations between Taty and Pablo, it was too bad we had the setback of the injury [to Pablo] that didn’t allow them to continue knowing each other. But the work that they do off the ball is very important for the boys in the back four, in the midfield, because they block lines, they work hard off the ball.
“And we need our strikers to score. We need our strikers to score. So, like we mentioned about Dinos, Taty, the confidence, for Pablo the goals will come, Jarrod, Cry… So, all these players that rely on individual aspects. Confidence plays a big part, big part.” – Nuno Espirito Santo
Above: West Ham’s average position map v Wolves, featuring Bowen (No 20), Summerville (7), Pablo (19) and Taty (11)
Bowen, who did bank DefCon at the death, has now produced 10 assists this season, the most of any player except Bruno Fernandes (£10.3m).
He could have scored, too, when his curled effort struck the woodwork.
As for Taty, he racked up six shots in Sunday’s FA Cup quarter-final defeat to Leeds United and produced another five here, in a solid all-round display.
WHEN COULD WOLVES BE RELEGATED?
The victory means Tottenham Hotspur replace West Ham in the bottom three, before their trip to Sunderland on Sunday.
Wolverhampton Wanderers, meanwhile, could be relegated at Leeds in Double Gameweek 33 if other results go against them.
Image from BBC Sport
Rob Edwards’ team were the better side in the first half on Friday, with Adam Armstrong (£5.2m) and Hugo Bueno (£4.3m) both missing decent opportunities.
Angel Gomes (£4.7m), in for the benched Mateus Mane (£4.5m), also hit the post, but once West Ham found the opener, they quickly faded, and there was only ever going to be one winner.
Defensively, Joao Gomes (£5.3m) and Mane both made errors that led to a goal.
“He’ll be fine [Mane]. We make mistakes as a team. A couple of our best players in him and Joao got robbed of the ball for those goals, but then there’s still a lot that’s got to happen. So, it’s a collective it’s not an individual making a mistake. In a couple of moments, we got punished tonight.” – Rob Edwards
Wolves have now conceded 38 Opta ‘big chances’ since Gameweek 21, two more than Burnley and the most of any top-flight team.
MOSQUERA BAN
Edwards will also be without Yerson Mosquera (£4.3m) for next weekend’s trip to Elland Road.
The centre-back will also miss Gameweek 34, having picked up his 10th booking of the season on Friday for asking the referee to give a yellow card to Summerville.
In better news, teammates Joao Gomes and Andre (£5.2m) are now in the clear from suspension, having avoided a yellow card in Gameweek 32.
