West Ham United have had a great start to the 2021-22 Premier League season. Even after having lost both their latest league games against Wolves and Man City, the Hammers still sit at the fourth spot in the league table. They have accumulated 23 points from their 13 games, as they are level on points with fifth-placed Arsenal and five points behind third-placed Liverpool. The Hammers have also been in good form on the European stage, as after five games of their group in the Europa League, they are undefeated and lead the group with 13 points from their five games. They have already qualified to the knockout stages as group winners, having a six-point lead at the top of the group with just one game left. In this post, we will look at the attacking stats of West Ham United and the attacking dashboards of attackers Michail Antonio, Said Benrahma and Pablo Fornals.
West Ham United’s attack has been a treat to watch this season, scoring a total of 24 league goals, only less than the top three of Chelsea, Man City, and Liverpool. The Hammers have recorded an xG of 22.34, which is the third-highest in the division, only less than Man City and Liverpool. It is even higher than league leaders Chelsea. They also happen to have the sixth-best defense in the league, as they have conceded just 16 goals. Only the top three, Brighton and Wolves, have conceded fewer goals than them.
The above viz shows Michail Antonio’s attacking dashboard for the 21-22 Premier League season. The black line in the viz shows the average of the stat for all forwards playing in the Premier League. It is visible that the Jamaican has been better than almost all other forwards in most of the statistics mentioned. The 31-year-old has started in 12 out of 13 league games for the Hammers and has been their top scorer scoring six goals for them this season. In addition, he has also provided three assists for his teammates. He has also scored and assisted one goal in three games Europa League games he has played.
Saïd Benrahma signed for the Hammers in 2020 and scored just one goal and provided six assists in his first season in the Premier League. He has started this season in much better form and has scored three goals and provided three assists in 13 starts this season. To add to that, he has also scored three goals in the Europa League group stage.
Pablo Fornals’ attacking dashboard shows that he has been a great attacking asset for David Moyes this season. He has been up amongst the goals and shots stats, with the Spaniard starting all of his team’s Premier League and Europa League games, and has scored four goals and provided one assist so far this season. After scoring just seven league goals in two seasons for the club, his four goals this season look like an impressive tally for the 25-year-old.
Looking at the current form that they are in, the Hammers look like serious contenders for the fourth spot in the Premier League. Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool, are expected to run away ahead of the other teams as part of the title race, and the fourth spot is expected to be up for grabs. Manchester United have lost a few games recently and dropped points, while other contenders like Arsenal, Tottenham, Wolves, and Leicester City all are within five points of West Ham United. It will be an exciting run towards the end of the season to see who comes out and becomes a part of the top four. David Moyes and his men will be relishing their chances of getting in.
