An entertaining match at the Vitality Stadium saw Bournemouth come back from 2-0 down to share the spoils with West Ham United.
The Cherries mounted their comeback, and racked up a Gameweek-high 4.05 expected goals (xG), without Antoine Semenyo (£8.0m).
The latest on Fantasy Premier League’s (FPL) top-scoring midfielder is among the big talking points from this match.
IRAOLA ON SEMENYO
All the pre-deadline talk centred around Semenyo’s “left anterior talo-fibula ligament sprain”, aka his ankle injury.
In the end, though, illness helped put paid to the winger’s involvement in Gameweek 12.
“He was already a doubt before the game with some ankle issues but at the end, it happened what you cannot control. He was ill today, he was with fever. We were in doubt but now, with the fever and this, obviously he didn’t have any chance. So, I hope he recovers and then we attend to the ankle.
“Yesterday already he was presenting with some fever, so we thought it was going to be very difficult.” – Andoni Iraola on Antoine Semenyo
The Ghanaian international now has another week to recover from illness and injury before Bournemouth take on Sunderland.
His 7.3 million owners in FPL will want some assurances from Andoni Iraola in Friday’s pre-match presser; if there’s any lingering concern, there would be some doubt for Gameweeks 13 and 14 due to the close proximity of the two fixtures:
Around 50,000 managers have already had enough, making him the most-sold midfielder of Gameweek 13 so far.
TAVERNIER PENALTY
With Semenyo and Justin Kluivert (£7.0m) absent, Marcus Tavernier (£5.5m) benefited from being the ‘Hilario’ on the Cherries’ penalty-taking list.
Bournemouth were awarded a second-half spot-kick when Max Kilman (£4.3m) tackled Evanilson (£7.0m) with his hand. There was no chance for the striker to atone for his missed penalty 14 months ago, however, as Tavernier stepped up to smash home from 12 yards.
SENESI NEARS BAN
Bournemouth’s comeback was complete when substitute Enes Unal (£5.4m) produced a superb turn and shot in the 81st minute.
The provider of an excellent threaded assist, on a rollercoaster afternoon for his 3.4 million owners, was Marcos Senesi (£5.0m).
For once, there were no defensive contribution (DefCon) points for Senesi. He finished well short, with West Ham’s tortoise-like retreat into their own shells leaving the Cherries with little defending to do.
Above: A whopping seven West Ham players, including all five defenders, banked DefCon points on Saturday as the hosts enjoyed over 75% of possession.
With the clean sheet up in smoke and Senesi short of DefCon, the Argentine centre-back stepped up with his aforementioned assist. Further returns nearly followed, as an advanced Senesi set up good chances for Evanilson and Amine Adli (£5.4m).
But, right at the death, a bit of a gut-punch. A 96th-minute yellow card not only reduced his Gameweek points but also left him on four bookings for 2025/26.
He has to get through the next seven Gameweeks without another caution in order to avoid a one-match ban:
AREOLA HEROICS
It was a battering on the xG front (4.05-0.65), although game-state should provide context. Had West Ham not been sitting on a 2-0 first-half lead, would they have been content to absorb so much pressure?
Still, owners of Senesi and co can console themselves with the fact that Bournemouth looked generally defensively assured. The opener came out of the blue, with Senesi misjudging a high ball in the swirling wind and Dorde Petrovic (£4.5m) fumbling an opportunistic 25-yard shot from Callum Wilson (£5.8m). Wilson’s second was a superb strike from a set piece.
While the Hammers seldom threatened, and Petrovic didn’t make a single save, Alphonse Areola (£4.3m) racked up 10 stops. He also claimed the assist for Wilson’s opener!
The Frenchman made some good saves from Adli, Evanilson, Unal, Ryan Christie (£5.0m) and Eli Junior Kroupi (£4.6m), the latter spurning a massive, 0.6-xG chance from 10 yards out.
Budget forward Kroupi was interestingly deployed in the hole in this fixture, although his xMins will take a tumble again when Semenyo and Kluivert return.
BOWEN BANKS DEFCON!
Wilson’s brace took him to three goals in two Gameweeks. His goals-to-games record has been very good over the years; it’s more just whether he’s going to stay fit.
Even here, despite not picking up an injury, Nuno Espirito Santo opted to take him off after 51 minutes.
“No [injury], maybe I took him [off] too soon! I felt that he was trying but… just to have another presence with Tomas [Soucek] there, it worked before.” – Nuno Espirito Santo on subbing Callum Wilson off
West Ham’s backs-to-the-wall performance was best summed up by Jarrod Bowen (£7.7m) banking DefCon points. He’s the first FPL forward to do that in 2025/26.
Freddie Potts (£4.4m) meanwhile made his third successive start in the engine room. He’s FPL’s cheapest starting midfielder at present.
