Our Fantasy Premier League (FPL) 2025/26 team previews continue with Graham Potter’s West Ham United.
Here, their best FPL picks for the upcoming campaign are discussed. We’ll also attempt to predict the line-up for Gameweek 1, review pre-season, detail the best players for defensive contributions (DC) and more.
REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL
3pm team news: First league starts for Fullkrug + Gruda 2
BOWEN + FULLKRUG IN TANDEM
Having replaced Julen Lopetegui in January, head coach Potter has now had a full summer to work with his team. Most of last season’s late months were spent lingering in 16th and 17th place but two wins in the final three took West Ham up to a lofty 14th.
What’s filling fans with summer optimism is the blossoming partnership between Jarrod Bowen (£8.0m) and Niclas Fullkrug (£6.0m).
The German’s first year in English football has been decimated by injury, but he finally seems ready to be unleashed. Between them, the pair have collected five goals and two assists in pre-season friendlies, combining to score the opener against Bournemouth.
“I think you can see the link-up is very good. I try to bring the ball to him in his strongest situation, where he can go one-on-one or go in behind. You could see also today, I think there were three or four situations where we linked up very well. He tried to do the same for me.
“Also, when I scored the goal, we worked very well against the ball. That’s also important for strikers. We are the defenders, we recognise it too. I love this guy. He’s my skipper.” – Niclas Fullkrug, speaking about Jarrod Bowen
DEFENSIVE IMPROVEMENT UNDER POTTER
Not exactly renowned for his defence-first approach, Potter nevertheless got more of a tune out of the West Ham backline than Julen Lopetegui did.
As you can see from the graphic above, West Ham’s rolling xGC average went in the right direction after the change in manager.
A tally of 23 goals conceded in 18 games under Potter was the joint-eighth best in the league.
Only three sides allowed the opposition fewer big chances (33) in that time, too.
It didn’t translate into an upturn in clean sheets (just three in 18) but at least the green shoots of recovery are there.
REASONS TO BE FEARFUL
WEAK UNDERLYING ATTACKING NUMBERS