WHZ View: West Ham ace Fornals wins deserved nomination for PL player of the month
West Ham attacker Pablo Fornals has been nominated for the Premier League’s player of the month award for October after a string of impressive performances last month.
Fornals, 24, grabbed a goal and assist in the 3-0 win over Leicester, helped the Irons earn impressive draws against Tottenham and Manchester City and scored against reigning champions Liverpool at Anfield last week.
As confirmed on the EA Sports website, Fornals is up against Che Adams, Conor Coady, Jack Grealish, Son Heung-min, Harry Kane, Thiago Silva and Kyle Walker for the award.
While we admit that Fornals is unlikely to win with Son, Kane and Grealish in stunning form last month, the nomination is no less than what the Spain international deserves.
Stats by WyScout show that Fornals’ xG (expected goals) for October was 0.41 goals per 90 minutes but the attacking midfielder’s xG for the whole season so far is 0.27.
He also averaged 2.75 touches inside the penalty area over the four matches last month when his season average is 1.88 per 90 minutes.
He also completed a brilliant 90 per cent of passes against Manchester City to help the Irons earn a draw against Pep Guardiola’s side and chipped in defensively by recovering possession four times and winning three interceptions.
Fornals had a slow start to life at West Ham but we are finally starting to see the Spanish ace playing consistently and playing well.
He’s been one of the key players in the impressive start to the Hammers’ season and we hope he’s able to continue his form into the easier fixtures that the club has on the horizon.
With Arsenal, Wolves, Leicester, Spurs, Man City and Liverpool all out of the way, West Ham fans have matches against Fulham, Sheffield United and Aston Villa to look forward to in November.
If Fornals can get goals against Leicester and Liverpool and pass the ball comfortably against Man City, we reckon he can prove vital in those three matches this month.
In other West Ham news, the Irons have shared an injury update on four players ahead of the clash with Fulham.