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 8.
Will’s team
GK: Areola
DEF: Udogie, Tarkowski, Colwill
MID: Maddison, Ward-Prowse, Saka, Bowen, Salah (C)
FW: Haaland, Watkins
A 34-point stinker last week and my lowest return of the season despite my three transfers in the build up.
So, I have finally played my wildcard!
I did all the transfers then changed my mind twice in the last week but finally decided to do it on Friday as you only live once.
Fortunately, James only managed 45 points last week, though I imagine he’ll be quite pleased with that. I’m on 398 now – just 13 behind him so hardly an insurmountable lead.
My James Tarkowski gamble backfired as Everton somehow managed to concede two at home to Luton! Pervis Estupinan’s -2 combined with Destiny Udogie’s Tottenham and Ederson’s Manchester City both conceding meant my three defenders and goalkeeper secured me a grand total of ONE point.
Rubbish two-point week for captain Haaland left just four players – Bukayo Saka, Jarred Bowen, James Ward-Prowse and Joao Pedro returning anything more than two basic appearance points.
So, Chelsea’s Levi Colwill comes in for injured George Baldock and he goes straight into the team with the Blues having only conceded six times this season and this weekend’s opponents Burnley only having scored the same amount.
James Maddison comes in for Bryan Mbeumo and high-flying Ollie Watkins is in for Yoane Wissa with Brentford flailing after a positive start so the Bees boys are out.
Cameron Archer and Jamal Lascelles in for Joao Pedro and injured Pervis Estupinan. Pedro not starting as much as I expected and Estupinan is out injured for a while. Plus, Brighton have also had a couple of dodgy results so maybe the Roberto De Zerbi bubble is starting to burst…
Salah captain this week as Haaland seems to have gone a bit cold.
A new era is upon us. Let’s have it.
James’ team
GK: Turner
DEF: Porro, Cash, Saliba
MID: Saka, Mitoma, Salah (C), Maddison, Diaby
FW: Alvarez, Haaland
Last week was a complete nightmare, but I still managed to get more points than Will.
A return of 45 points is incredibly tragic and pushes me closer to rolling the dice and playing my wildcard. But not this week.
I was massively let down by Estupinan, who conceded six and scored an own goal to end the game week on -2 points, while captain Erling Haaland blanked for just the second time this season. I was saved, if you can even call it that, by Matty Cash coming off the bench with six points.
But I’ve still managed to extend my lead over Will to 12 points, even after taking a -4 hit. Every cloud.
This week almost saw me play my wildcard but I’ve decided to hold off for at least one more week. It’s just the one transfer as well, with the injured Estupinan making way for Tottenham’s Pedro Porro, who has looked very impressive so far this season.
Spurs play Luton (A), Fulham (H) and Crystal Palace (A) in their next three fixtures, so there’s a lot of opportunity for Porro to bring in some clean sheet points, as well as add to the two assists he has to his name already.
In goal, Matt Turner returns to the starting XI, with Forest hosting Crystal Palace and Flekken’s Brentford travelling to Man United. That’s probably the easiest decision for me this week.
In defence, Porro joins William Saliba and Matty Cash. Arsenal host Man City in what is a huge clash this weekend. While I think it’s unlikely he’ll keep a clean sheet, Saliba offers more at set pieces for the Gunners than Gvardiol does for City, which is what I’m banking on. Cash’s Villa travel to Wolves, and with two goals and an assist to his name this season, he will be a threat in the final third for sure.
No changes to my midfield, other than a tweak to my captaincy strategy. Diaby, Mitoma, Saka, Maddison and Salah all remain, but Salah takes the captaincy this week in the hope that he outscores Haaland. He looked underwhelming against Wolves last week, while Salah is always a goal threat. He’s playing a Brighton side that has just shipped six goals and is yet to keep a clean sheet this season. Salah also has six goals and seven assists in 13 career appearances against the Seagulls, which bodes well for attacking returns.
Up front, I’m hanging my hat on Haaland and Alvarez to cause Arsenal’s defence all sorts of bother, just as long as they let Saliba score at the other end!
