Two summer signings, both of them Fantasy Premier League (FPL) budget picks, caught the eye in the early-evening Sunday friendlies.
We run the rule over West Ham United’s win over Bournemouth and Wolverhampton Wanderers’ defeat in Girona.
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WEST HAM UNITED 2-0 BOURNEMOUTH
- Goals: Fullkrug, Bowen
- Assists: Bowen, Diouf
THE DIOUF IS ON THE FIRE
West Ham look like they’ve bagged a player in El Hadji Malick Diouf (£4.5m). The wing-back’s deliveries from the left flank were superb on Sunday night, and led to both goals.
Diouf might have bagged two assists had Jarrod Bowen (£8.0m) not mishit his 24th-minute cross, the newly reclassified forward then regaining composure to tee up strike partner Niclas Fullkrug (£6.0m) for the opener.
The Hammers’ new Senegalese defender then did claim an assist after the break, with Bowen this time tidily finishing his pinpoint ball in.
In between was another wicked delivery that Fullkrug fired off target.
“Malick was a positive in terms of his deliveries, and his crosses were really good.” – Graham Potter
Fullkrug remains a name to monitor in the mid-price forward list: he’d hit double figures for league goals in each of the three seasons before joining West Ham. As is the case with fellow new boy Callum Wilson, it’s more about whether he can stay fit: injury wiped out half of last season and he made only six starts.
HAMMER SMASH AND GRAB
Bournemouth had 14 shots to West Ham’s five but the Hammers made their efforts count.
Taking chances has long been the Cherries’ issue: they’ve ‘underachieved’ on the xG front in all three seasons since their return to the Premier League. Last year they did so by -6.94.
And so it was again on Sunday night, with Evanilson (£7.0m) missing the worst of the sitters when hitting the woodwork with the goal gaping. Ilia Zabarnyi (£5.0m) did likewise with a close-range header, while luck was out again when the frame of the goal was rattled for a third time when Evanilson charged down Alphonse Areola (£4.5m).
There was again no Justin Kluivert (£6.5m) but this was expected, with the midfielder only given an “outside chance” of featuring. He shouldn’t be too far away now. £4.5m midfielder Hamed Traore also got more game-time, partly as a result of Kluivert, Ryan Christie (£5.0m) and Lewis Cook (£5.0m) being out.
Budget forward Eli Junior Kroupi (£4.5m) returned to full fitness, at least, replacing Evanilson in the final quarter of the game.
Bournemouth XI: Neto (Petrović 46), Smith (Araujo 69), Senesi (Hill 69), Zabarnyi (Mepham 83), Truffert (Soler 83), Tavernier (Semenyo 46), Adams (Winterburn 84), Scott (Faivre 84), Brooks (Rees-Dottin 84), Traoré (Ouattara 69), Evanilson (Kroupi 69).
West Ham United XI: Areola, Wan-Bissaka (Walker-Peters 70), Todibo (Mavropanos 70), Kilman, Aguerd, Diouf (Scarles 90+1), Potts (Rodríguez 70), Ward-Prowse (Orford 84), Paquetá (Irving 85), Bowen (Marshall 90+1), Füllkrug (Souček 70).
GIRONA 2-1 WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS
- Goals: Arias
- Assists: Joao Gomes
JHONNY ON THE SPOT
Is a Fantasy Premier League star born? FIFA Club World Cup Fantasy managers loved a bit of Jhon Arias (£5.5m), and now maybe FPL bosses will too.
The attacking midfielder took less than 15 minutes of his Wolves debut to notch his first goal, showing some good upper-body strength to bulldoze his way between two Girona defenders, latch onto a ball from Joao Gomes (£5.5m), and lash home what turned out to be a consolation.
He’d come close to an assist, too, showing some good aggression to win possession in the Girona box and tee up Jorgen Strand Larsen (£6.5m) for a saved effort.
Looking bright on the ball and purposeful off it, he was everything Wolves weren’t in the first hour.
It’s just one appearance, but a good start all the same.
HOEVER… HOWEVER
Vitor Pereira’s side created precious little in Spain before Arias’s introduction. There was a lot wrong with the performance, from Emmanuel Agbadou‘s (£4.5m) off-the-boil display to Marshall Munetsi‘s (£5.5m) ineffectiveness, but it’s hard not to think that Wolves have lost a lot at wing-back with the departures of Nelson Semedo and Rayan Ait-Nouri (£6.0m).
As much as FPL managers might want him to be, Ki-Jana Hoever (£4.0m) is probably not the answer at right wing-back. Rodrigo Gomes (£4.5m) and Hugo Bueno (£4.5m) – on corners here – haven’t really laid a convincing claim on the other flank, either, but David Moller Wolfe has at least arrived in the last few days.
Two goals early in the second half did for Pereira’s troops. Sloppy marking contributed to the first strike but the second, in fairness, was a snorter.
You’d have to fancy a year in the lower reaches of the table awaits Wolves based on pre-season so far but, as Matheus Cunha (£8.0m) has proven, an individual can prosper in FPL even among Premier League strugglers. Arias and Strand Larsen still have potential, therefore.
One other line of note: Yerson Mosquera (£4.5m) was back in a Wolves shirt on Sunday after a long, long spell out.
Wolverhampton Wanderers XI: Sa (Johnstone 45), Hoever (Lima 81), S Bueno (Doherty 64), Agbadou, Toti (Mosquera 64), R Gomes (H Bueno 64), Andre (Hwang 81), J Gomes, Lopez (Arias 64), Munetsi (Bellegarde 64), Strand Larsen (Kalajdzic 81).
