As the new season starts back up in just over a month, so too does the 2019/2020 Fantasy Premier League Season. As always, there are some surprises both good and bad. But did the experts get it done right on the West Ham squad and do we agree with it?
The clubs official site posted the fantasy numbers yesterday morning, but before completely getting into this seasons projections, let’s look back at the top 5 West Ham players from the 2018/2019 season. The top 5 Hammers will come to no surprise as they were the most outstanding in many West Ham fans eyes.
Starting from 5th to 1st: Mark Noble 99 points, Marko Arnautovic 117 points, Michail Antonio 118 points, Lukasz Fabianski 143 points, and top fantasy scorer last season for the Hammers was, shocker, Felipe Anderson with 155 points.
Clearly, defenders don’t get as many points as I totally expected Diop to show up after the outstanding season he had ending up with 87 points. As we move from last year’s stars to this year’s projections, we will start with the defense and move up the line. A side note is the keeper position as Fabianski was the only one listed but will cost players £5.0m.
Defenders
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Going from left to right: Aaron Cresswell £5.0m, Arthur Masuaku £4.5m, Issa Diop £4.5m, Fabian Balbuena £4.5m, Angelo Ogbonna £4.5m, Winston Reid £4.0m, Pablo Zabaleta £4.5m, Ryan Fredericks £4.5m, and Ben Johnson £4.0m.
The two big shockers for me is that Cresswell got the most out of the defense and Diop/Balbuena, in my opinion, got snubbed again as they weren’t anywhere near the top of the list for defenders in the Premier League. If Reid does play, he will be cheap and should still be quality.
Midfielders
Keeping with the theme, we work left to right: Felipe Anderson £7.0m, Manuel Lanzini £6.5m, Pablo Fornals £6.5m, Mark Noble £5.0m, Declan Rice £5.0m, Jack Wilshere £5.0m, Pedro Obiang £4.5m, Carlos Sanchez £4.5m, Michail Antonio £7.0m, Andriy Yarmolenko £6.0m, Robert Snodgrass £5.5m, Grady Diangana £4.5m.
I don’t really have a lot of issues with how this is set up points-wise, besides snubbing Declan at only £5.0m but he will be a cheap and quality buy. Depending on the returns of Wilshere and Yarmo, they both might be cheap and solid acquisitions for your club.
Forwards
The forward slots are pretty much to predict how they might turn up. Marko Arnautovic £7.0m, Chicharito (if he stays) £6.0m, and Xande Silva £4.5m. Clearly, West Ham still needs more quality in this area fantasy or not.
The excitement is in the air for the FPL season and I cannot wait to see how the Hammers fare week in and out not just on the pitch but for fantasy. So far my three Hammers that I will start are Fabianski, Diop, and Anderson. We ate GSH have also started a Head to head league, let us know if you want in.