Every week this season, two West Ham fans will compete at Fantasy Football to win money for their chosen charities.
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Every week this season, two West Ham fans will compete against each other to win money for a charity close to their hearts.
James Jones and Will Pugh from the ‘We Are West Ham’ podcast will go head-to-head by picking their Fantasy Football teams every week, making sure to select at least one player from West Ham.
Their points will be totted up every week, and the highest-scoring team at the end of the 38 Gameweeks will be declared the winner, with Betway donating £1,000 to their chosen charity.
Who will come out on top? Here’s who the Hammers fans have selected for Gameweek 7.
Will’s team
GK: Ederson
DF: Botman, Tarkowski, Estupinan
MID: Mbeumo, Ward-Prowse, Saka, Bowen, Salah
FW: Haaland (C), Joao Pedro
Another below average performance came last week as my 58 points saw me drop below James Jones for the first time in ages.
I wasn’t expecting a sensational week, and while James’ shock/flukey 71-point haul stung a bit, I was very much taking a short-term pain, long-term gain approach.
I expect that to pay off this week and for the king to return to his throne as I have made THREE transfers. I rolled last week’s over which means my trio of changes have only cost me four points but I reckon it will be worth it.
Mo Salah comes in for Marcus Rashford. Salah’s absence was hurting me and Rashford’s naff 24-point return this season combined with Manchester United’s rotten form made that a no-brainer.
Raheem Sterling also got binned in place of West Ham’s set-piece sensation James Ward-Prowse. Sheffield United come to town on Saturday off the back of last week’s 8-0 thumping by Newcastle. The Blades have conceded four goals from set pieces in six games this season meaning Ward-Prowse, who already has five assists and two goals in six Hammers matches, should have a field day.
Everton’s James Tarkowski also comes in for Ben Chilwell as a short-term differential. The Toffees are improving and have Luton and Bournemouth at home the next two games, and guaranteed starter Tarkowski was only £4.4million leaving me some wiggle room which should allow me to bring in James Maddison after Tottenham have got this week’s Liverpool game out the way.
All three new boys start. It was a coin flip between Joao Pedro and Brentford’s recently disappointing Yoane Wissa up front with skipper Erling Haaland but with Evan Ferguson an illness doubt for Brighton, Pedro may start for a change at Aston Villa so he gets the nod. Cue Wissa goal-fest no doubt.
James’ team
GK: Flekken
DEF: Estupinan, Gvardiol, Saliba
MID: Saka, Mitoma, Salah, Maddison, Diaby
FW: Alvarez, Haaland (C)
They say cream always rises to the top, and in this case that statement is absolutely true.
Will must’ve been adamant that he would remain above me for the entire season, especially while he was texting me on Saturday afternoon to laugh at my decision to bring in Julian Alvarez, who scored just one point at home to Nottingham Forest.
But I had the last laugh last weekend and ended it two points above Will in our mini-league, thanks to hauling 71 points in GW6. I have Mitoma to mostly thank for that, with his two goals off the bench. Who’s laughing now?
I’ve decided, though, to take a four-point hit this weekend, due to my sheer disbelief at Raheem Sterling’s performances since I brought him in and Ben Chilwell’s recent lack of game time and reported hamstring injury.
So ahead of GW7, Chilwell departs for Aston Villa’s Matty Cash and Sterling is sold for Tottenham’s James Maddison.
Buying Cash allowed me to release some funds for the addition of Maddison, and the Villa defender will go straight onto my bench this week. However, I see him as a far more reliable defender to have in my team in the coming weeks than Chilwell. He’s also a good option to come off the bench if someone in my XI doesn’t feature.
Maddison is an obvious pick given the form he’s in. He’s got two goals and four assists already this season, including two assists against Arsenal last weekend. He’s now a must-have as his partnership with Heung-min Son begins to blossom.
One dilemma I have this week is who plays in goal. My two goalkeepers play each other as Flekken’s Brentford travel to Turner’s Nottingham Forest. Both have kept just one clean sheet each so far this term and, if both teams score, it won’t really matter anyway. I’m swaying towards starting Flekken purely because I think it’s more likely that Brentford keep a clean sheet than Forest.
The rest of my team remains as is from last week. Maddison directly replaces Sterling and Haaland keeps the armband. He scored four goals in two games against Wolves last season, which bodes well as City travel to Molineux.
There are yellow flags next to Saka and Maddison but reports are suggesting both will be fit to play for their clubs this week, so I’m relaxed about that.
