On the 27th, in the last game of the 26th round of the Premier League, West Ham striker Bowen scored the first hat trick of his career and led the "Hammers" to defeat Brentford 4-2 at home. It was West Ham's first win of 2024, after six Premier League and two FA Cup games were hard to come by, as well as heavy defeats to Arsenal 6-0 and 3-0 to Manchester United.
Bowen's form is a barometer for West Ham, at the end of last year, the "Hammers" were in great form, beating the two traditional giants Manchester United and Arsenal in the Premier League with the same score of 2-0, and the victory over Arsenal was still away, Bowen contributed a goal and an assist respectively. Since then, Bowen has gone on a six-game Premier League winless streak with neither a goal nor an assist.
In front of "Little Bee" Brentford, Bowen broke out in full swing, scoring three goals in the 5th, 7th and 63rd minutes, assisting him with Emerson, Coufal and Kudus. Brentford's England centre-forward Toni was overshadowed by an in-form Bowen in a battle for a spot in England's Euro 2024 campaign.
In last season's Premier League scorers' charts, Toney finished third, behind Erling Haaland and Harry Kane. However, Tony returned after an eight-month ban, and his form this season has deteriorated significantly from last season. In the Premier League scorers list this season, two foreign strikers Erling Haaland and Mohamed Salah are in the top two with 17 and 15 goals respectively, while the three homegrown strikers from England, Watkins, Bowen and Solanke are tied for third with 14 goals.
Solanke's Bournemouth has a poor record, in fact, Watkins and Bowen have the opportunity to be selected for the European Championship squad of the England team, playing as a substitute for captain Kane, but Tony, who once played as a substitute for Kane, has little chance.
Watkins and Bowen were both selected in the England squad last edition, with Villa striker Watkins being the preferred favourite of manager Gareth Southgate. Villa are fourth in the Premier League this season, thanks to leading scorer Ollie Watkins, who is also joint top of the Premier League assists charts with 11 assists alongside Gross and Neto. Bowen had only two assists and was less versatile than Watkins, but his hat-trick was a good fit for his chances of competing for the European Championships.
Villa have scored 56 Premier League goals so far this season, with 25 per cent by Watkins; West Ham have scored 40 Premier League goals, with Bowen scoring 35 per cent; Bournemouth have scored 33 Premier League goals, with Solanke accounting for 42 per cent.
Proofread by Xu Heng.