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Exclusive: Frank McAvennie delighted by 'huge' Michail Antonio boost for West Ham
We’re delighted to welcome former West Ham striker Frank McAvennie as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at the London Stadium…
Frank McAvennie is thrilled by the news that Michail Antonio could be available for West Ham when they play Sheffield United at Bramall Lane on Sunday.
According to the London Evening Standard, the 30-year-old has made “good progress” with his recovery from a hamstring injury during the international break and the Hammes hope that he will be back in David Moyes’ squad this weekend.
Antonio missed the last two matches before the international break against Liverpool and Fulham and McAvennie is happy that they might be the only games he was ruled out of.
“It’s huge. If he can come back in and recapture the form he had before he got injured then yes, he’s been missed,” McAvennie told West Ham Zone.
“I’ve been waxing lyrical about him for a while now, ever since he converted to play as a centre-forward.
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“He does everything I like in a centre-forward. He works the back-four, he holds the ball up and he’s scoring goals.”
Antonio has been brilliant for West Ham. Not just this season but in the whole of 2020.
The former Nottingham Forest man has scored three goals in six Premier League appearances this term, which came against Arsenal, Leicester and Manchester City.
Stats by WhoScored show that Antonio ranks 10th in the Premier League for the number of shots at goal he’s had per game [3].
And according to WyScout, the West Ham striker ranks 14th in the Premier League for xG [3.14], which is higher than Tottenham’s Son Heung-min, Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes and Chelsea’s Timo Werner.
We don’t want to say that any of Moyes’ players are more important than another because the players in Hammers’ regular starting line-up this season have been superb.
But Antonio just adds so much to Moyes’ attack and we’ll be very thankful to have him back in action at Bramall Lane on Sunday.
In other West Ham news, the Hammers could revisit their interest in Martin Braithwaite.