West Ham United return to London Stadium for one of the biggest home Premier League fixtures of any season on Sunday afternoon, with Manchester United the visitors.
The Hammers have been Jekyll and Hyde in their previous two top-flight matches, defeating Ipswich Town 4-1 on home turf a fortnight ago, before losing by the same scoreline at Tottenham Hotspur last weekend.
It goes without saying that the Irons will need to produce a much-improved performance if they are to score a victory over Erik ten Hag’s Red Devils, who themselves came from a goal down to defeat Brentford at Old Trafford last time out.
Both sides will be full of individuals looking to provide the touch of magic required to make the difference on the day, meaning there are a number of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) decisions to be made in the lead up to kick-off.
The Gameweek Nine transfer deadline is set for 11am on Saturday 26 October, with kick-off at London Stadium set for 2pm on Sunday.
While we will be giving you FPL tips and tricks throughout the remainder of the 2024/25 season on whufc.com, see below for some of our picks for the upcoming round.
Also, don't forget to join the Official West Ham United FPL League by entering the code ‘tezfax’.
Back to our Gameweek Nine preview, and we’re looking for a dependable midfielder to make an impact again…
Big Tom the man for the big occasion...
Tomáš Souček (£5.0m) has eclipsed 100 FPL points in each of his four full seasons as a West Ham United player and is on course to do so again in 2024/25.
With 28 points from his opening eight matches, the Czech Republic international midfielder may not have been at the peak of his powers so far, but he has still scored in seven of the eight games he has appeared in.
Souček’s standout performances have both come away from home, with goals scored at Crystal Palace, where he totalled eight FPL points, and Brentford, where he hit a season-high ten.
The No28’s best home haul came on the opening weekend, when he grabbed an assist against Aston Villa.
It is about time Souček found his form at London Stadium again, and what better time to do it than on Sunday against Manchester United?
With a Fixture Difficulty Rating (FDR) of 3, FPL believes the 29-year-old has a decent change to make his mark against Erik ten Hag’s side, so don’t miss the opportunity to draft this big-game player into your lineup!
Opposition Watch: Manchester United
Manchester United’s form has been called into question this season, but a quick look past the headlines reveals that the Red Devils have kept clean sheets in four of their eight Premier League matches to date.
As such, it should probably come as no surprise that goalkeeper André Onana (£5.0m) is Manchester United’s leading FPL points scorer with 41 to his name.
The Cameroonian stopper has kept out Fulham, Southampton, Crystal Palace and Aston Villa already this term, and will be seeking to keep himself at the top of the clean sheet charts with another shutout at London Stadium.
Onana has played all 720 minutes for his side, making 20 saves and far exceeded his Expected Goals Conceded (xGC) of 12.3 by conceding just nine times in eight matches.
While West Ham fans will be hoping Onana has an off-day, FPL managers may feel including him gives them a good chance of scoring points this weekend.
