Pablo Felipe is still waiting for his first West Ham United goal, but one statistic helps explain why Nuno Espírito Santo continues to trust him.
The 22-year-old returned to the starting XI for Tuesday’s 3-2 victory over Bolton Wanderers and again played an important role without getting on the scoresheet.
Pablo’s close-range effort was saved before Jarrod Bowen converted the rebound for West Ham’s opener. Sky Sports’ match report confirms the Brazilian was directly involved in the move.
That was followed by another victory with Pablo leading the line.
West Ham win rate rises when Pablo starts
According to Hammers News, West Ham had previously won 54.5 per cent of their league matches when Pablo started, compared with only 16 per cent when he did not.
After Pablo started the Bolton victory, their calculation puts the figure with him in the XI close to 58 per cent.
Another analysis reached a similar conclusion before the Bolton game.
West Ham World calculated that West Ham had taken 21 points from 12 league games Pablo started, compared with nine points from 11 without him in the starting XI.
That represented 1.75 points per game with Pablo starting against 0.82 without him.
Those numbers do not prove Pablo is responsible for the difference.
They do, however, support the argument that his contribution extends beyond goals.
Nuno makes Pablo feelings clear
Nuno certainly appears to believe that.
Speaking after the Bolton victory, the West Ham head coach defended his striker and praised the work he does without the ball.
Nuno said Pablo is “amazing” for the team before highlighting his movement, link play and defensive contribution.
That faith matters with Wrexham visiting London Stadium on Friday night.
Joel Piroe was introduced from the bench at Bolton, while Taty Castellanos remains the major fitness uncertainty after his hamstring problem.
ReadWestHam has already looked at the latest Castellanos situation before Wrexham.
Pablo therefore has a genuine chance of retaining his place.
There is still an obvious weakness to address. A centre-forward eventually needs goals, and Pablo has yet to provide them for West Ham.
But Nuno is clearly judging him on more than his scoring record.
For now, West Ham’s results when Pablo starts give the manager some evidence to support that faith.
