Fantasy Premier League 2021 – 13th-17th Place Preview

West Ham

Fixtures

Attack 29%
Defence 100%

There are a lot of reasons to ignore West Ham for the opening fixtures, not least the fact that they have a terrible run! After Newcastle, on the opening day, they face 6 of last season’s top 8 in a row!

The club also seems to be falling apart at the seams… Maybe they’ll get that sorted in time for their decent run in December, or maybe they’ll be relegation fodder by then.

Main Pick

Michail Antonio (FWD, 6.5m)

If you’re basing your team on who finished well in the post-lockdown period, look no further than Antonio. He banged in 8 goals including 4 in a single game against Norwich City.

He took more shots than anyone other than Salah and Jesus, he scored more goals than anyone other than Sterling. If West Ham can defy the fixtures then he will be central to that!

Differential Pick

Tomas Soucek (MID, 5.0m)

Possibly not quite a differential as he currently sits in roughly 7% of teams, but Soucek is a good option to highlight. The key to his appeal is that incredibly kind price!

At 5.0m for a player who is guaranteed to start every game for which he is fit (and not self-isolating) and who also scored a few goals in the tail end of the season is a steal. He is my 5th midfielder of choice, COVID issues notwithstanding as he was apparently exposed to the virus while with Czech Republic on international duty!

Defensive Pick

Ben Johnson (DEF, 4.0m)

Like Mitchell at Palace, Johnson’s key draw is that he literally could not be any cheaper. It needs to be a good draw because West Ham’s defence is terrible. He has also played a fair amount of preseason with West Ham and should be able to cement his place in the starting XI given the sorry state of their fullbacks last year.

If you really want to plough as much money into your starting XI as possible then Johnson and Mitchell make a handy double act on the bench, or you could pick one and switch to the other if one does play and the other doesn’t.

Steer Clear

Defence!

As I said, West Ham’s backline has more holes than a colander and they conceded more goals than any other surviving team except Aston Villa. Maybe this season will be better if Fabianski stays fit and we’re not subjected to the horror show of Roberto (good riddance!) but, especially given that dreadful opening run, stay away!