SIX West Ham players to consider for your Fantasy Football team

By now you lot will have had your Fantasy Football teams ready and waiting for this weekend’s big kick-off.

It’s at this stage that if club’s make any new signings then it’s rare that they’ll slot straight in to the squad on the opening day of the season, so the team you’ve got now is pretty much ‘locked in.’

But, just have a rethink and ask yourself whether you’ve really thought about it. Have you? Well, if you haven’t got a mighty Hammers in your XI then I’m afraid it could be back to the drawing board for you.

Why? Well here’s SIX Hammers players worth picking for your fantasy football team…

Click on Mark Noble to reveal

Adrian – £5.0m

The Spaniard only played for half a season last term, if that. But he still managed to rack up an impressive 83 points, which includes six clean sheets and 87 saves.

He’s set to complete his first full season in claret and blue this time around and, with the likes of Winston Reid, James Tomkins and James Collins in front of him, he’s in line for another bag full of shut outs.

And at just £5.0m, he’s certainly worth picking in goal if you’d rather splash the cash on the big points scorers out field.

Aaron Cresswell – £5.5m

Given that it’s Cresswell’s first season in the Premier League, it’s tough to predict how well he’ll make the step up from the Championship.

But, in this day and age, the gulf between the two divisions isn’t that huge, particularly between the Premier League’s mid-to-low table teams and the second-tier’s promotion-pushers.

And had Cresswell been earning Fantasy Premier League points for Ipswich in the Championship last season, he would’ve racked up 166 points from his opening 38 games, which doesn’t include bonus points – that put him up there in the top five point scoring defenders in the top-flight last season.

He managed two goals and an extremely impressive 14 assists, and you can expect him to chip in with a similar return this season if he gets the game time and adapts quickly.

Mohamed Diame – £5.5m

Diame had his best ever Premier League season last term, both in his return of goals and assists and in Fantasy Premier League points scoring.

He scored 99 points last term, with four goals, three assists and five bonus points, despite spending a lot of the campaign played out of position.

But his pre-season suggests he could be back where he belongs in the middle of the park, which is where we all know he is at his best. If that’s the case, you can count on him to be getting in amongst the goals and the assists all season.

That’s if he stays fit and/or isn’t sold, that is.

Mark Noble – £5.5m

Mark Noble is another one who enjoyed his best ever season in terms of Fantasy Football scoring.

He racked up a very impressive 125 points, which was helped by three goals, six assists and 12 bonus points. With a almost guaranteed spot in the starting line-up, you wouldn’t put it past him to do the same again this season.

As the side’s penalty taker – who never, ever misses – you’re guaranteed goal points from him, as well as the odd assist. And, as a midfielder, he’ll also earn the odd clean sheet point, which we all know can make the difference when added up over the season.

Cheikhou Kouyate – £5.0m

Another who’s something of an unknown quantity so far, but he’s certainly one to consider if you’ve been tracking him in pre-season.

He’s impressed over the summer and has already cemented a reputation of being a bit of a ‘beast’ in midfield.

He doesn’t score many goals, but he’s quite partial to the odd assist, which is always nice for points scoring, while his defensive abilities are guaranteed to contribute to a number of clean sheets through the campaign.

A bit of a gamble, but one who is unlikely to let you down to often.

Enner Valencia – £7.0m

 

The biggest gamble of them all but, if you played The Sun’s World Cup Dream Team and had him in your side, you’ll know he’s a points scorer.

Valencia bagged a shed load over in Mexico before his £12m switch to East London, and he’s expected to do the same in the Premier League for that price.

If you’ve got some spare cash in your kitty then it’s worth bringing him on the bench for now – he’s £7.0m, so not that cheap – as he’s unlikely to play for the opening couple of games due to a lack of match fitness. But, when he’s fit, I expect you’ll want to get him in your starting XI pretty quickly.

If he adapts to the English game quickly, then he could be one of the big points scorers of the season.