Brighton FPL Gameweek 15: Welbeck a Christmas gift for West Ham away
Christmas is a time of cheer, so let us try and dwell on the positives from Brighton & Hove Albion’s 1-1 draw with Sheffield United in FPL gameweek 14 which was earned through a late Danny Welbeck equaliser.
You might be thinking “what positives?” But there were a few plus points to take ahead of the Albion’s trip to West Ham United on Sunday December 27th.
Forward Thinking
Foremost among the positives was Danny Welbeck (£5.5m), who recorded his fourth FPL attacking return from his last six appearances when he came off the bench to equalise for Brighton against the Blades.
Graham Potter has managed the minutes of Welbeck in recent weeks – 62 in the 3-0 defeat at Leicester City in FPL gameweek 12 and just the 24 on Sunday when United came to the Amex – so he should be a shoo-in to start against the Hammers.
Then again, this is Potter who loves a Pep-style roulette we are talking about, but even with Neil Maupay (£6.1 million) and Aaron Connolly (£5.3 million) both fit and active, Welbeck should be the man to bring some fantasy comfort and joy.
He has played just three more minutes than Connolly (539 v 536), but outdoes him for attempts (13 v 12), shot accuracy (46.2% v 33.3%) and goal conversion rate (15.4% v 8.3%). Not to mention the fact that Welbeck is yet to miss an open goal header from two yards so far this season.
Middling Moyes
Meanwhile, the return to the fray of Leandro Trossard (£5.8 million), who has started the last two games, looks well-timed. The Belgian had been in good form in the early months of the season, topping out WAB Power Ranking for September with a score of 49.39.
Only Maupay (30) has had more attempts than Trossard’s 22 this season and he remains the team’s most creative outlet, providing 20 chances – that is one more than Solly March (£5.0m), but from almost 300 minutes less pitch-time.
West Ham sit comfortably in mid-table, but their recent form is patchy, with two defeats and a draw over the last four matches and just one point from six at home. If Brighton are going to inflict further woe, one (or both) of Welbeck and Trossard will need to shine.
Captaincy Corner
Even with Big Sam Allardyce’s return to Premier League management, West Bromwich Albion were entirely awful against Aston Villa, not helped by having a man sent off, of course, but it’s clearly going to take time for Allardyce to turn things around.
So a trip to Liverpool looks far too soon, which elevates Mohamed Salah (£12.5m) to the top of most people’s Christmas captaincy wish list. He is the highest-scoring player in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), with 118 points, and has been incredibly consistent this season.
The midfielder has featured in 13 games, starting 12 of them and blanking in just two. Even when handed only 33 minutes against Crystal Palace last time out, he still scored two goals, set up another and walked off with 16 points.
Only The Leeds United (30) have conceded more goals than the 29 West Brom have allowed, while Allardyce’s new charges lead the way for both shots (224) and attempts on target (88) conceded.
Forget sage and onion, there could well be a new Christmas stuffing on the menu at Anfield.
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