West Ham United’s trip to Anfield was their 28th Premier League game of the season and so, with ten fixtures left to fulfil, the countdown is well and truly on!
The Irons next host an enigmatic Aston Villa side at London Stadium – and ahead of their visit, we present to you the latest Fantasy Premier League considerations…
Super Fab goes under the radar
Among the myriad of statistics at the fingertips of FPL managers these days, an intriguing perspective is offered up by the Bonus Points System (BPS).
This system utilises a range of statistics supplied by Opta that capture actions on the pitch, ultimately creating a performance score for every player which then determines who gets allocated bonus points from each game.
Actions include the obvious like scoring and assisting goals, producing tackles and key passes and the like – but also assessments of statistics including pass completion rates and further defensive actions.
Flying under the radar, therefore, is goalkeeper Łukasz Fabiański, who tallies highest for West Ham in the BPS across the season with a score of 470 – in no small part due to the 78 saves the Poland ‘stopper has produced across 27 appearances.
In terms of overall score, Fabiański has the seventh-highest total of any Premier League goalkeeper (97 points) – but his occasionally understated contributions are clearly influencing West Ham’s matches for the better.
Double trouble for transfers
Gameweek 29 is a double gameweek for numerous sides, so there are additional opportunities to pick up an FPL point or 20 - with the transfer deadline set for 11am on Saturday 12 March!
Arsenal, Brighton & Hove Albion, Everton, Liverpool, Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur will all play two games over the course of the week – but it’s also worth noting that four of those sides (and 12 overall in the Premier League) will then be without a fixture in Gameweek 30.
Such circumstances cry out for careful management of your ‘Free Hit’ chip, therefore, which every FPL manager received a second of over the winter.
With the ‘Free Hit’ chip, you can make unlimited free transfers in a single Gameweek, before your bank balance and squad are restored to what they were at the previous deadline – perfect for the upcoming fixture programme!
Opposition report
Matty Cash (£5.1m) has been the real FPL star of the show this year; a defender able to return points at both ends of the pitch, Cash both scored and assisted in the emphatic 3-0 Premier League win over Leeds United in midweek. He also assisted Danny Ings’ goal against Southampton last weekend.
At the other end of the pitch, in terms of defenders, only Crystal Palace’s Tyrick Mitchell (86) has produced more than Cash’s 73 successful tackles, and he has been a part of eleven clean sheets so far this campaign - including three in his last three games - collecting a team-high 117 points overall.
No other Premier League player matches Cash for Form (points per games played in the last 30 days) and, most impressively, no other player has recorded more points in a single Gameweek than Cash's 29 in Gameweek 28, last time around.
The right-back is truly a player in the form of his career.
It’s also little surprise that Philippe Coutinho (£7.4m) is one of the most-transferred in players ahead of this FPL Gameweek.
Selected by almost a quarter of all FPL managers, the brilliant Brazilian has been back to something of his best in Villa colours since joining on a temporary move in January, four goals and three assists in eight appearances yielding 55 points and seeing his price jolt up from an initial £7.0m.
Inconsistent form has seen few other Villa players entrusted quite as widely in the FPL community this season, although 20-year-old midfielder Jacob Ramsey (£4.8m) offers an exciting budget option, having scored his first five senior goals this season.
Enter our supporters’ league!
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.
If you’d like to throw your hat into the ring for February, all you’ll need is our league code: nlz9u2
