With just two gameweeks to go in Fantasy Premier League, the final push for points is on!
With Leeds United, and then Leicester City, completing the Irons 2022/23 Premier League fixture list, could Aaron Cresswell be the player to keep an eye on…
Cresswell and Big Sam reunited!
FPL players are a suppositious bunch, so a few may cast an eye on defender Aaron Cresswell ahead of the meeting with Leeds United.
The experienced left-back joined West Ham United in July 2014, when he was signed by current Leeds United boss Sam Allardyce. Since then, Big Sam managed five other Premier League clubs and England, while Cresswell is approaching almost a decade of service in east London.
Known for his free-kicks and threat due to his delivery from set pieces too, the No3 has made over 300 appearances for West Ham – and with ten goals, and 37 assists, across his Hammers career, has been a regular winner of FPL points too.
Cresswell was one of seven in Claret and Blue to enjoy triple-digit points hauls in 2021/22 and finished as the 21st-best-performing defender with a tally of 115 points. Some performance then, and an amount he had bettered just once across his career, in 2020/21 (153).
This time around, Cresswell has made 23 starts in the Premier League and has been involved in eight of the Hammers’ ten domestic clean sheets. A tally he will hope to add to with fixtures against Leeds United and Leicester City – two sides below the Irons in the table – to come.
Before the final hurrah though, it has still been a solid season for Cresswell, who has 73 points to his name.
Across the 2022/23 campaign, the £4.7m-priced defender's best showing arrived in the 4-0 win over AFC Bournemouth last month. The experienced No3 picked up three bonus points, four for a clean sheet, three for an assist and two for minutes played. A final tally of 12 points was well-deserved for an excellent showing on the south coast – and one he will hope to repeat across the next two matchdays too.
Superstition can also be applied to the Irons’ final game of the season, as Cresswell has previously netted against Leicester City, scoring in the 2-2 draw at Kingpower Stadium in 2015/16.
Should we keep an eye on Divin?
As differentials go, Divin Mubama would be a huge one with just two games to go. Priced at £4.5m, the 18-year-old striker is owned by 0.1 per cent of managers, although his involvement with the senior squad could continue over the next couple of weeks.
Mubama made his fifth first-team outing – his second in the Premier League – in the 2-0 defeat by Brentford last Sunday. And having opened his senior account against AEK Larnaca earlier this year, Mubama is pushing for a first Premier League goal with two fixtures against Leeds and Leicester City to come.
Opposition One to Watch: Rodrigo
Ahead of this weekend’s fixtures, only ten players have outscored Leeds United’s top scorer Rodrigo, who has netted on 12 occasions in the 2022/23 Premier League. With two assists added into the mix too, Rodrigo reached a century of FPL points for the first time in his career. And ahead of his trip to east London, his 119 points is a total that only Jack Harrison, from Leeds, has bettered with 36 matches played.
Key to Rodrigo’s success was a blistering start to 2022/23. The £6.3m-priced midfielder netted 35 points in his first three games of the season, scoring once against Wolverhampton Wanderers, twice against Southampton, and another against Chelsea. A third of his Premier League goals in 2022/23 came before matchday four.
Currently owned by 3.8 per cent of managers, a few will be hoping that Rodrigo’s end to the season is as strong as his start.