What to do with... Michail Antonio? - Fantasy Football Community

Next up in our ‘What to do’ series, we ask what should managers do with West Ham forward Michail Antonio

After 23 Gameweeks, West Ham’s Michail Antonio is still the highest-scoring foward in FPL, despite only contributing more than five points on two occasions since his goal in Gameweek 6. He is now in ‘The 100 Club’ but – in a landscape where only two forwards rank inside the top 30 – there are 12 FPL assets with more points so far.

His run of one goal from 11 matches ended with a few festive strikes but the 31-year-old is without any from three matches – including home meetings against Norwich and Leeds. Is it time to ditch the man with over 42% ownership?

West Ham’s failure to capture Benfica striker Darwin Nunez was certainly a good sign for Antonio owners and he faces Watford and Newcastle over the next three Gameweeks. However, he is being overshadowed by brilliant team mate Jarrod Bowen – seven goal involvements from his last six matches.

*West Ham goal attempts between Gameweeks 7 and 23.*

In fact, Antonio’s nine shots on target throughout these last 17 Gameweeks has been bettered by 36 others. When managers decide that a Hammers double-up is perhaps a bit too much, many will opt to keep Bowen over Antonio.

This is helped by the eventual emergence of a few good alternatives up front. For a while, the choice has been poor but now managers have a range of names alongside the premiums and Watford strikers:

Ollie Watkins (fed by exciting signings Coutinho and Lucas Digne, versus Leeds, Newcastle and Watford)
Odsonne Edouard (three goals and two assists from his last four, has a Double Gameweek 26, with games against Norwich, Brentford, Watford and Burnley)
Armando Broja (cheap, great finisher, good fixture run coming soon)
Neal Maupay (his best Premier League season, seven goals, has a Double Gameweek 25)
Dominic Calvert-Lewin (16 goals last season, potential new manager bounce under Frank Lampard)
Ivan Toney (scored in his last 2, soon up against Crystal Palace, Newcastle, Norwich and Burnley)
Wout Weghorst (intriguing new signing, Burnley have many games-in-hand)

So managers can feel more compelled to be Antonio-less, although an immediate home match against Watford could make this a ‘wait and see’ decision. David Moyes’ side have no games-in-hand but there’s a chance they’ll be one of the few times to play in Gameweek 30 on FA Cup quarter-final weekend.

We just don’t know yet.