With over half the 2024/25 season now gone, the race to win Fantasy Premier League (FPL) titles is hotting up.
At the top of the West Ham United Official table, Sahit Berisha leads the way with 1,519 points, 33 ahead of Neil Bellamy in second place, with eight other managers within 40 points of the leader.
With 14 Gameweeks still to play, including Double Gameweeks in 24 and 36, there are still hundreds of FPL points up for grabs for managers who make the correct line-up decisions between now and the final deadline on Saturday 24 May.
Next up for West Ham is a trip to Aston Villa on Sunday, which has a Fixture Difficulty Rating (FDR) of four out of five. On paper then, it does not represent the best opportunity to collect points by picking Hammers in your FPL team.
But opportunity knocks for managers willing to take the plunge and select Irons in their fantasy starting XI, so which West Ham players could prove shrewd investments in Gameweek 23?
Before we name names, don't forget to join the Official West Ham United FPL League by entering the code tezfax...
Can the Spider spin Villans into his web?
While his FPL points output has dropped in recent matches, with just four collected from his previous four appearances, Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£4.5m) remains West Ham United’s highest-scoring defender with 62 FPL points.
The versatile full-back tallied nine points at Southampton on Boxing Day and has a season-high single-game total of 15 when he scored, kept a clean sheet and picked up three bonus points in a 2-0 win at Newcastle United back in November.
While clean sheets have proved hard to come by for West Ham this season, Wan-Bissaka has completed 90 minutes in all but two of his Premier League appearances this season, and his ability to break forward means goals and assists cannot be counted out.
Further forward, Lucas Paquetá (£5.7m) has scored FPL points in each of his previous four Premier League matches, highlighted by a seven-point haul in the 3-2 home win over Fulham in Gameweek 21. The Brazilian has proved a threat from open play and has also seemingly been appointed as the Hammers’ penalty taker, too.
If you fancy taking a gamble, why not bet on Danny Ings (£5.0m) scoring or assisting against his former club?
Ings registered an assist in the home win over Fulham earlier this month and, with his fellow forwards set to be absent through injury, Head Coach Graham Potter could call on the 32-year-old from the start on Sunday.
Opposition Watch: Aston Villa
Attacking midfielder Morgan Rogers (£5.5m) has proved himself a top-class Premier League performer since joining Aston Villa from EFL Championship side Middlesbrough a year ago.
Capped twice by England in 2024, Rogers has registered six goals, five assists and four clean sheets on his way to amassing 95 FPL points so far this season.
Rogers’ standout showings have come against difficult opponents, too, with a 14-point haul against Manchester City in December being his top performance, followed by eleven against Brighton & Hove Albion, nine at Tottenham Hotspur and eight in a home win over Brentford.
England striker Ollie Watkins (£8.9m) has shown his pedigree in recent weeks, plundering 30 FPL points from Aston Villa’s previous four Premier League matches, including eight at Arsenal last time out.
From a West Ham point of view, of course, Potter and his players will be out to stop Rogers, Watkins and company from hitting the net.
