Who are the best West Ham picks in FPL from Gameweek 10?

The Scout pinpoints the clubs and players to target for the upcoming period in Fantasy Premier League.

West Ham United

The Hammers boast a number of kindly priced picks in Fantasy ahead of a turn in schedule in Gameweek 10. According to the Fixture Difficulty Ratings (FDR), six of their subsequent eight matches score only two.

West Ham’s schedule

Jarrod Bowen (£7.3m) has been West Ham’s top performer in the early stages of 2023/24, scoring five goals and supplying an assist to claim 54 points.

That places him fourth among midfielders and suggests he is back to the form that helped him deliver 206 points in 2021/22.

Bowen’s dominance of the underlying goal threat numbers shows why he has been such a big early success.

West Ham’s top goal threats compared

He places top for shots, shots in the box, big chances and shots on target, while his total of five goals is just one fewer than he managed all last season.

James Ward-Prowse (£6.3m), by contrast, has produced four shots in the box to the 19 of Bowen, who places joint-second among midfielders for this statistic. 

The prospects of Tomas Soucek (£4.9m) have been boosted by the arrival of set-piece specialist Ward-Prowse. The Czech midfielder has produced five of his 12 shots from such situations and ranks second to Bowen for a number of key statistics here.

At a cost of just £4.9m, Soucek has offered huge value recently with back-to-back goals against Sheffield United and Newcastle United in the last two Gameweeks.

West Ham’s top creators compared

There’s no surprise Ward-Prowse leads creativity. He has made 15 key passes since making his West Ham debut in Gameweek 2, just one fewer than fellow Fantasy midfielders Mohamed Salah (£12.6m) and Bukayo Saka (£8.6m).

Full-backs Vladimir Coufal and Emerson (both £4.5m) both feature among the Hammers’ top five creators, with the former’s 11 key passes ranking sixth among defenders in Fantasy.

While that underlines his attacking potential, it also indicates Coufal has been somewhat fortunate to supply an assist in each of the last four Gameweeks and his current levels of output are unsustainable.

Certainly, West Ham defenders will find it tough to attract the attention of managers due to the popularity of their new No 1 Alphonse Areola (£4.2m).

The Frenchman is the most-owned goalkeeper in Fantasy, found in over 33 per cent of squads ahead of his kind schedule.

See: Why GW10 is a great time to Wildcard

Those who don’t own Areola could instead consider Nayef Aguerd (£4.5m) as a huge differential, with an ownership under one per cent.

The centre-back is another who boasts a big threat from Ward-Prowse’s set-pieces, producing a team-leading six shots in such situations.

So, what should managers do?

Ultimately, Bowen’s far superior goal threat makes him the best West Ham player to bring in.

His prolific form and upcoming fixtures can help establish him as a key figure in managers’ five-man midfields for many Gameweeks to come.

At the back, Areola’s value is hard to ignore and is the obvious go-to pick, with save points almost guaranteed. 

Aguerd could be a big alternative thanks to Ward-Prowse’s delivery, offering potential at both ends of the pitch.

View all the latest FPL tips ahead of Gameweek 9 in Fantasy Premier League