A few weeks ago West Ham and Everton players weren’t even up for consideration. Leaking too many goals at the back and looking abject in attack, they were probably the two teams FPL players wanted to steer clear from most. Then came the return of two British managerial stalwarts; Sam Allarydce and David Moyes. The former Expected to sure up Everton’s defence, the latter who had little faith in him after four consecutive failures as a manager. Big Sam has has so far lived up to his expectations while Moyes has shown signs he could prove the doubters wrong with plenty of potential FPL assets to join our teams.

Allardyce’s impact has been been immediate. So far, the Toffees have only conceded 1 goal in three premier league games and with an impressive xGA ( Expected Goals against) of 2.68 in this period. Even more encouragingly, their xGA for the games we would want to start Everton players was 0.22 against Huddersfield at home and 0.56 against Newcastle away. In their next 10 fixtures they have 6 fixtures where you would be confident of starting an Everton defender (SWA (H), WBA (A), BOU (A), WBA (H), CRY (H).

Moyes got off to a shakier start failing to win in his first four games. The last two games have seen a dramatic shift with a win against the champions and deservedly earning a 0-0 draw against Arsenal. They surprisingly limited Chelsea to an xG of 1.19 and Arsenal to 1.02. Unlike with Everton, there remains a big caveat of this defensive solidity will materialise against the smaller sides where there will be a greater emphasis for West Ham to attack and win the game. However, with only 1 bad fixture in their next 9 game weeks (Spurs A) and that belonging to a double gameweek where they also play (WBA H), there is no better time to pick up a West Ham defender.

Who to get?

Jonjoe Kenny at 4.3 provides great value as a starting Everton defender with 24 points in his last 4 games. A starter since the beginning of David Unsworth’s stint as caretaker manager, he’s relatively nailed on until the return of Seamus Coleman. He’s unlikely to get many BPS or assists considering Allardyce’s tendency to keep the fullbacks back but the clean sheets he should earn will hopefully prove he’s a bargain for the coming weeks. Jordan Pickford at 4.8 is another one to consider with 34 points in his last 4 games and save points in 2 of Allardyce’s 3 opening games. Like Kenny, a decent number of Clean sheets look likely but Pickford has additional benefit of a good chance of receiving bonus points and save points.

Angelo Ogbonna at 4.3 is a West Ham defender a you should consider with only 1.4% ownership and has started every game under Moyes. If the defensive solidity continues for West Ham, Ogbonna will provide amazing value. Adrian at 4.3 is a goalkeeper with a staggeringly low ownership of 0.6%. Given the opportunity to play against Man City as Joe Hart was unable to play against his parent club, Adrian has seized it with both hands, putting in three very impressive displays as well as a great organisation of the West Ham defence.