After Michail Antonio’s calamitous performance against Chelsea on the opening weekend of the season, where he gave a way a penalty and just struggled to contain Eden Hazard throughout, you would be forgiven for thinking the former Nottingham Forest man was a lost cause.
However, after returning to his favoured wide attacking role against Bournemouth last weekend, he quickly returned to being a Hammers hero by scoring a late winner for Slaven Bilic’s men.
It’s no secret that Antonio performs best when he’s used in an attacking role and is allowed to run at full-backs, whip in crosses and regularly pop up at the back stick to nod in a goal – just as he did against Bournemouth last Sunday.
As a result of his Man of the Match performance against, Antonio collected an impressive points total of 34.5. Just under half of those points were as a result of his winning goal (15 points), but he also earned valuable points for his other contributions.
As a player who has been used as a right-back for the past six months or so, Antonio has become accustomed to running back and fulfilling defensive duties, which he still did against Bournemouth. He earned 4 points for tackles and 3 for interceptions, which proves he can still be an important player in a defensive capacity, even if adopted in an attacking role.
But what is most important about Antonio’s rebirth as a right winger is his ability to create goal scoring chances. He create two chances against Bournemouth, earning him six FanDuel points and boosting his overall points total considerably.
West Ham face Man City this weekend, which may not provide Antonio with the perfect opportunity to build on his display against Bournemouth, but West Ham’s away form last season proved you can never write the off – and Antonio could be important to Bilic’s chances of grabbing successive league victories at the Etihad.
However, beyond this weekend, West Ham’s continued search for another right-back before the transfer window closes suggests Antonio will continue to be used in his more natural position, boosting his chances of earning maximum points each week and, more importantly, your chances of winning money with FanDuel.
