FPL notes: Bowen goal, Potter’s back four + Forest fail

West Ham United eased the pressure on Graham Potter, thanks to three goals in seven minutes from Jarrod Bowen (£7.8m), Lucas Paqueta (£5.9m) and Callum Wilson (£5.9m).

Here are our Scout Notes from Nottingham Forest 0-3 West Ham.

BOWEN, PAQUETA + WILSON GOALS

West Ham had to be patient at the City Ground on Sunday, but got the job done with a surge of late goals.

Bowen netted the opener in the 84th minute from Crysencio Summerville’s (£5.5m) pass.

Just four minutes later, the Dutchman earned a penalty which Paqueta successfully converted, before Wilson capped off the scoring by nodding in El Hadji Malick Diouf’s (£4.5m) pinpoint cross.

It could have been more, too, with Bowen inches away from heading in another Diouf delivery.

Back in his favoured position on the right (more on that below), Bowen also created a couple of big chances.

As for Paqueta, he started the match as a No 10 but was given plenty of license to roam. Amid transfer interest from Aston Villa, he racked up 16 defensive contributions (DefCons) to earn 10 points.

In addition to Summerville’s impact off the bench – he replaced debutant Mateus Fernandes (£5.5m) – substitute Wilson also played a big part.

He replaced the ineffective Niclas Fullkrug (£5.9m) just after the hour mark and secured his first goal for the club, as he racked up four shots in just 36 minutes of football. Crucially, his introduction provided fresh energy up front.

POTTER’S BACK FOUR

Graham Potter switched from a back five to a back four at the City Ground and will be happy with the reaction he saw from his team.

In an impressive defensive display, the Hammers looked much more solid in a 4-5-1 formation, as they secured their first clean sheet of the 2025/26 season.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s (£4.4m) stock continues to fall, however. He was benched on Sunday, with his replacement, Kyle Walker-Peters (£4.4m), performing admirably to contain Callum Hudson-Odoi (£6.0m).

Diouf, meanwhile, continues to go from strength to strength. He’s now provided two assists in three matches.

Not only did Potter’s formation change make the Hammers more robust, but it also amplified their attacking threat.

“The change of shape as well has probably given us a platform to go and attack, and today it’s given us three goals.” – Callum Wilson

FOREST FAIL

Not a single Fantasy manager, or at least very few, anticipated this outcome, as Forest failed to keep a clean sheet for the third successive match in 2025/26.

In fact, you have to go back to April 1st to find their last shutout.

Fantasy bosses would have expected a far better attacking performance as well, as Nuno Espirito Santo’s side generated a mere 0.88 expected goals (xG):

The hosts were admittedly the better team for large periods, but bar one decent chance for Chris Wood (£7.7m), they struggled to create anything major.

Morgan Gibbs-White (£7.5m), who was often careless in possession, and Dan Ndoye (£6.1m) also failed to provide the spark needed.

Ndoye was surprisingly replaced by James McAtee (£5.5m) on 57 minutes, despite making some decent runs in behind the West Ham defence in the first half.

“I’m upset. I’m very upset. We are all upset. The players are upset, we are upset, our fans are upset. First half, we were dominant and in control. There was a lack of urgency and we were too slow, but we were in control. Second half was totally different. We started committing mistakes and getting punished for them, were unbalanced and there were gaps. It was a very bad second half and a bad performance.” – Nuno Espirito Santo

Elliot Anderson (£5.5m), meanwhile, started in central midfield but for the third match running, fell one short of the DefCon threshold:

He did, at least, create three chances for his teammates, with two of those key passes originating from corners. It suggests further assists could be on the way, particularly against Burnley and Sunderland in Gameweeks 5 and 6.

First up, however, is a trip to Arsenal after the international break:

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