As West Ham United's focus returns to domestic action, and with just seven Gameweeks are left to play in Fantasy Premier League, every point counts at this stage of the season!
Here are the very latest Hammers FPL headlines…
Two Hammers among Gameweek’s finest
Last time out in the Premier League, Jarrod Bowen (£6.8m) came back with a bang and Aaron Cresswell (£5.4m) struck set-piece gold against Everton, both Hammers earning their place in the Gameweek 31 ‘Kings of the Gameweek’ for their goalscoring exploits!
For the No20, who picked up his seventh double-digit FPL haul – being classed as a Midfielder – it was a fifth inclusion of the season in the top-scoring team of the round, earning 13 points thanks to a goal, an assist (winning the free-kick for Cresswell’s goal) and, subsequently, all three Bonus points for the fixture.
With slightly different criteria for an assist in FPL, Bowen’s livewire display saw him pick up his 14th such goal contribution which – added to his nine goals – see him jump up to 166 points, fifth in terms of the highest-scoring players in the game mode this season.
Such contributions see the No20 remain well and truly on course to bettering the Irons’ best-ever FPL points haul from an individual player – Dimitri Payet’s 171 in 2015/16.
Cresswell, meanwhile, was included in ‘Kings of the Gameweek’ for the second time this season for his goal, plus two Bonus points, which earned the No3 nine points in total against the Toffees.
Johnson makes prescient prediction!
Ben Johnson often shows wisdom beyond his years… and perhaps demonstrated that best when, in a pre-Everton interview with Fantasy Premier League’s official channels, the full-back presciently said: “Cress’ set-pieces are always on the money!”
The #FPLShow asked Ben Johnson for the lowdown on the @WestHam squad 🕵️♂️#FPL pic.twitter.com/LgGXzMONdd
— Fantasy Premier League (@OfficialFPL) April 1, 2022
The 22-year-old named Cresswell as the defender most likely to get an attacking return – as the case proved on Sunday – but also highlighted Craig Dawson’s attacking threat and the set-piece ability of teammates Manuel Lanzini and Declan Rice.
Opposition report
With little precedent for many of their players in FPL points terms, Premier League newcomers Brentford continue to offer outstanding value for the thrifty shopper.
So impressive in a 4-1 win over Chelsea last week – the Bees’ third in the last four Gameweeks – Vitaly Janelt (£4.9m) rewarded the 0.1 per cent of players who had selected him with a whopping 15 points at Stamford Bridge.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Ivan Toney (£6.7m) – a record-setting goalscorer in the Championship last season – leads the way in total points thus far for Brentford, with 114 – including double-digit hauls in the recent 3-1 and 2-0 wins over Norwich City (17 points) and Burnley (12 points) respectively.
Available at just £4.4m and £4.3m respectively, defender Pontus Jansson and goalkeeper David Raya are popular picks for filling out squads, whilst the brilliant resurgence of Christian Eriksen (£5.5m) makes the Dane certainly a 'differential' midfielder to keep an eye on – particularly given that he is owned by just 0.9 per cent of players.
Indeed, four of Brentford’s final seven matches score only two out of five in FPL’s Fixture Difficulty Ratings (FDR), giving Brentford’s budget-friendly players the chance to reward managers over the run-in.
We’re nearing a winner…
In case you hadn’t heard, we’ve been inviting Claret and Blue supporters who enjoy a spot of casual FPL to take part in our own mini-league, where the top-scoring players each month could are in with a chance of winning West Ham-themed rewards.
There’s also a grand prize in store at the end of the season for the overall winner, of course – and as it stands, Darren Valet and Crockerdile Hunter lead the pack with seven Gameweeks to go!
As for my own challenge, well… 1,754th out of 2,446 players tells its own story. I’m going for the (very) late comeback…
If you’d like to throw your hat into the ring for the April prize, all you’ll need is our league code: nlz9u2 - or you just need to click this link here.