There will now be a summary of Saturday for you when we look back at the 3-1 Sunderland against West Ham United.
BOWNING ON PENS
Lucas Paqueta‘s (£5.9m) time at West Ham may be coming to an end – and that could be good news for Jarrod Bowen (£7.6 million).
Paqueta has been first in line for penalties at the club in recent seasons. Another penalty candidate, who is hardly used James Ward-Prowse (£5.6 million), It is expected that Paqueta will follow out the exit door in January.
So there was a question mark over who would step up from 12 yards if both players were left out.
New signings Taty Castellanos (£5.5 million) and Pablo Felipe (£5.5m) were candidates, having both previously hired them.
But it was Bowen (who has often stepped in as a substitute in the past) who got the nod on Saturday and then converted from the spot Ollie Scarles (£4.3 million) had been cut down. Taty and Pablo were both on the field at the time.
Nuno Espirito Santo couldn’t bear to watch Jarrod Bowen’s penalty against Sunderland 😅 @WestHam pic.twitter.com/tQ1zX0k4yl
— Premier League (@premierleague) January 24, 2026
Adding spot kicks to corners and game time guarantees further increases his FPL appeal.
SUMMERVILLE TO SONG
The jury is still out on how the addition of two forwards to the team affects Bowen’s threat in open play.
On paper, Bowen is wider than before, with Pablo and Taty occupying the central zones. He has had just two non-penalty shots in the two Premier League games the January signings have started together.
But the two new strikers are outright goalscorers rather than prolific scorers (Taty has missed all four big chances he has had since his arrival). Nuno Espirito Santo wants others to contribute to the goals.
“The most important thing is that we get bodies in the box, which causes problems for our opponent.” – Nuno Espirito Santo, when asked about Crysencio Summerville’s goal
And West Ham’s opener was an example of that. Bowen reaches wide and crosses the ball, Crysencio Summerville (£5.5m) attacking at the back post and nodding inside. Indeed, Summerville has had seven shots over the past two Gameweeks.
Bowen said the relationship is reciprocal: When Summerville has the ball on the left side, Bowen will be the one crushing the area.
“Me and Cry talk a lot about when the ball is on the other side. When Cry has the ball I say to him, ‘I will always be in the penalty area. So when you cross the ball, stand in the back post for goals, because I think you can add a lot of goals to your game with that.’ And I said the same thing to him. When I have the ball I will try to beat my fullback. I’m confident I can beat the full-back.” And on my right foot, my weaker side, I’ll always try to put it up and leave it in a spot where you trust the runs will come in there. Cry ran brilliantly and jumped very well and headed the ball like a real striker.’ – Jarrod Bowen
Matheus Fernandes (£5.5m), who impressed in central midfield, scored a brilliant third and hit the crossbar with another effort. He will have to rely on missiles from a distance; he hasn’t had a chance since December.
West Ham has been doing a little better defensively lately Konstantinos Mavropanos (£4.4 million) and Jeanclair Todibo (£4.3m) is showing signs of forging a decent partnership between the centre-backs. But it is still zero zero since Nuno took over, so interest in the Hammers backline is negligible – especially with Chelsea gone next.
XHAKA INJURY BAG
How much will Granit XhakaSunderland’s absence (£5.3m) has implications for Sunderland, especially when it comes to clean sheets?
The influential Swiss midfielder is on the sidelines due to an ankle injury he suffered in Gameweek 22. That was only officially revealed when the team sheets were released on Saturday morning.
ℹ️ Granit Xhaka has been ruled out of today’s trip to West Ham United.
The midfielder suffered an ankle injury in the win over Crystal Palace last weekend and is now undergoing a period of rehabilitation at the Academy of Light. pic.twitter.com/rC2WKtdaSv
— Sunderland AFC (@SunderlandAFC) January 24, 2026
Considering Xhaka had started every Premier League match up until Gameweek 23, there’s little to say with/without data.
The Black Cats looked somewhat rudderless without him in the first half; But above all, it is his irreplaceable leadership and organizational skills that will be missed.
But maybe we’re reading too much into it. Sunderland have been pretty bad on the road for a while now, having not won any of their last seven away games.
Regis Le Bris said afterwards that Xhaka “will have to rest for at least two weeks” before further investigations will be carried out.
THREE OUT OF FOUR FOR BROBBEY AS MUKIELE TICKS
Much of Sunderland’s struggles on the road have come down to goals. No side had scored fewer goals (five) on their travels than the Mackems heading into Gameweek 23, although Bryan Brobbey (£5.5m) added one more to that paltry tally on Saturday.
That’s three goals in four Gameweeks for the Dutchman, who has now started eight Premier League matches on the spin.
Nordi Mukiele (£4.4m) also continues to find ways to transition. Deployed again as right back, with Then Ballard (£4.6 million) and Omar Alderete (£4.1 million) at centre-back, the versatile Mukiele provided the cross that Brobbey converted.
Remarkably, it has now been nine Gameweeks since Mukiele failed to keep a clean sheet, attack attacking returns and/or DefCon points.
Trai Hume (£4.5 million), Romaine Mundle (£4.9 million) and an unusually out-of-control one Reinildo (£3.8m) were all hooked on the break by Le Bris.
If there is one consolation for the Black Cats in Xhaka’s absence, it is that they can now call on the long-unavailable Habib Diarra (£5.3m) again in midfield. He came into the break and was perhaps the favorite of the visitors’ players.
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