Tomas Soucek has been a reliable player for the Hammers since he signed and Graham Potter has utilised him in a slightly more advanced role to make the most of the aerial threat. This was on display in West Ham’s win over Arsenal last time out, where Soucek had 2 headed shots.

Soucek is averaging 0.88 fouls won per 90 across his 24 Premier League appearances this season. He was fouled once in the initial meeting between these sides and will be up against Boubakary Soumare here, who is averaging 1.25 fouls committed per 90 in the Premier League this season.

Leicester are averaging 11.0 fouls per game in the Premier League this campaign so you would expect some lazy challenges in the middle of the park, which sets up Soucek nicely to be fouled here.

West Ham dominated Leicester in every underlying metric aside from the result in the initial meeting between these two. This is reflected in the corner numbers from that game, the Hammers managed to win 9 corners to Leicester’s 3.

West Ham are averaging 5.08 corners per game at home in the Premier League this season, they aren’t a massive part of their game but should stack up as a result of sustained pressure in the final third.

Leicester are only averaging 3.58 corners per game across their 12 away assignments in the Premier League this season, with their opponents racking up 7.08 corners per game.

West Ham have improved week on week under Graham Potter, the results haven’t quite reflected the improvement in performances but there is a real opportunity to lengthen the optimism sourced as a result of their 1-0 win over Arsenal at the weekend.

Leicester have one of the worst away records in the Premier League. The Foxes have managed to win just 2 of their 12 assignments away from the King Power Stadium this term, conceding 32 goals in these matches. No side has conceded more goals than Leicester on the road this term.

West Ham took 31 shots in the reverse fixture, generating an xG of 3.10, but were unable to find the back of the net until the 93rd minute. They should get the win here.

Alvarez’s tenacity is a trait that has caught the eye of Graham Potter. This tenacity can occasionally spill over into recklessness, which is evident when looking at Alvarez’s foul and card records this season.

Alvarez is averaging 2.23 fouls committed per 90 in the Premier League this season – the highest total of regular starters in the West Ham squad this campaign. He’s been shown 6 yellow cards and 1 red card as a result of this foul record, which makes him the second most cautioned player for the Hammers this season.

Alvarez is forecasted to be up against Facundo Buonanotte, who has won 26 fouls across his 22 Premier League appearances this season (1.98 per 90). Buonanotte’s ability to turn quickly and breeze past opponents should cause Alvarez plenty of problems which should result in him coming in around his foul average for this season and picking up a caution as a result.

Alvarez was shown a yellow card in the initial meeting between the sides and contested a huge 14 duels in the game.

Leicester have received 62 yellow cards across their 26 Premier League games this season (2.38 per game), the 5th highest number in the league.

They were shown 2 yellow cards in the initial meeting between the sides and have received 2+ cards in 4 of their last 5 Premier League games.

West Ham have drawn 2+ cards from the opposition in 13 of their 26 Premier League games this season (50%). Leicester’s promising foul and card record should see the travelling Foxes pick up at least 2 cautions in this clash.

Hermansen was awarded man of the match for his performance in the initial meeting between the sides. The Leicester goalkeeper was forced into making 7 saves to deny West Ham, and was only beaten by a 93rd minute goal by Niclas Fullkrug.

Despite Leicester’s poor defensive record on the road this season (32 goals conceded – worst in Premier League), it would have been a lot worse if it wasn’t for Hermansen. He’s been forced into making 74 saves across his 19 Premier League games this campaign (4.0) with the Leicester City keeper doing well to maintain a 64.3% save rate despite Leicester’s issues with defensive organisation this season.

West Ham managed 10 shots on target in the initial meeting between the sides which is a massive increase on the 4.0 shots on target per game average they’ve posted across the season as a whole. This shows the gap in quality between the sides which should see West Ham regularly test the impressive Leicester goalkeeper.