Is Michail Antonio a fixture-proof pick in FPL?

Michail Antonio (£8.0m) looks set to become the most-selected forward in Fantasy Premier League (FPL) in the run-up to Gameweek 8, with Cristiano Ronaldo (£12.6m) hemorrhaging owners.

Antonio is also the highest-scoring player in his position, averaging 8.2 points per match.

West Ham United sit second-bottom of our Season Ticker for fixture difficulty over the next eight Gameweeks, however:

With that in mind, it’s worth a look at Antonio’s track record against the so-called ‘bigger’ clubs to see how he traditionally fares when the schedules get trickier.

We’re just examining Antonio during David Moyes’ second spell in east London here, which gives us not far off two years’ worth of data. It is only under his current boss that he has carved out a career as a bona fide centre-forward, having previously operated as everything from a right-back to a left-winger under former head coaches.

Our thanks go to TopMarx for his dredging of the historic data for this piece.

ANTONIO v THE ‘BIG SIX’

Antonio’s record against the traditional Premier League elite in the second coming of Moyes is very decent indeed, with nine attacking returns in 14 appearances.

It’s even better when we look at his last 10 run-outs, a period that coincides with West Ham’s upturn in form at the back-end of 2019/20.

In those games, Antonio averages 6.0 points per match and has only blanked on three occasions.

The West Ham striker scored against Manchester City home and away last season and produced a 12-point haul in his previous meeting with Chelsea, although has yet to face the meaner, Thomas Tuchel incarnation of the Blues.

ANTONIO v THE TOP TEN