William Osula appears to have nailed down the number nine position for Eddie Howe’s Newcastle side in recent weeks and has been on the end of his fair share of rough challenges, forcing 12 fouls in his last six Premier League appearances. The frontman has proved difficult to handle and having been fouled 1.78 times per 90 across the campaign, he’s clearly happy to win free kicks.

Tasked with marshalling Osula will be West Ham defenders Axel Disasi, Konstantinos Mavropanos and Jean-Clair Todibo, who average a combined 1.35 fouls per 90. When faced with a similarly tricky customer in Viktor Gyokeres last time out, the Swede was felled three times, and so hopefully Osula can draw similar attention. 

One team with plenty on the line are West Ham, who have the opportunity to move out of the relegation zone with a win at Newcastle. If the Hammers are to do so, Taty Castellanos will be crucial to their chances, the striker has worked the opposition goalkeeper 10 times in his last six games, landing this bet in all of those. 

Newcastle cannot wait for their disappointing season to end, and the Magpies have been particularly poor in front of their own fans, losing five of their last seven home games and giving up 11.78 shots per game this season. Teams to visit St James’ Park average 4.44 efforts on target, and with West Ham scrapping for their lives, Castellanos looks the sort of passionate player to drag them clear of danger. 

After losing four league games in a row, Newcastle finally broke that streak by beating Brighton, and they followed that up with a 1-1 draw against Forest last time out. It hasn't been a season to remember for Eddie Howe's men, who have once again struggled to balance Champions League fixtures with domestic responsibilities. 

Newcastle have at least looked threatening going forward, and the Magpies have scored in 12 of their last 13 matches, with the only shut-out coming against league-leaders Arsenal. However, Newcastle lost eight of those games, which highlights just how fragile their defensive structure has been. 

Their matches tend to be quite open with chances available at both ends, and BTTS has landed in 11 of those 13 recent matches. This will be Newcastle’s last home game of the season, so they will want to finish on a high note, but West Ham also can’t afford to sit back.

Newcastle saw just three corners in their last league match against Forest, but that was very much an anomaly, as they have been a team to target for corners this season. The Magpies are averaging 10.97 per game in the league this season, which rises even further to 11.68 when playing at St James' Park. They play quite a direct brand of football, looking to utilise width, so Newcastle are adept at getting to the byline. However, they have looked permeable in midfield this season, so their opponents have also been able to regularly contribute to the corner counts. 

Similarly, West Ham are averaging 11.06 corners per game in the league this season, and there were 13 corners in the reverse fixture at the London Stadium. The Hammers accounted for seven of those, and the visitors managed six.

West Ham came away with a 3-1 victory in that game at the London Stadium, and they found plenty of success going forward. Jarrod Bowen was unfortunate not to get on the scoresheet, as chances were in abundance for the winger. Bowen had four shots in that game, two of which found the target, and he was constantly able to pick gaps in the Newcastle defence. In fact, he has regularly been able to do that over the years - Bowen has recorded at least four shots in each of his last four head-to-head encounters against Newcastle, and he has landed this selection in all of those matches. 

Once again, Bowen has been a key player for the Hammers this season, and he is averaging 2.12 shots per 90 in the Premier League, with 34% of those efforts hitting the target. That has translated to eight goals, and he will need to be on form this weekend.

Crysencio Summerville is another player who West Ham fans will hope can contribute going forward, but the focus here is on his foul prices. Summerville has a tendency to rack up fouls on the flank, and he has been one of West Ham's most combative players in recent weeks. The Dutchman is averaging 1.91 fouls per 90 in the league this season, which is one of the highest figures in the West Ham squad, and he has landed in six of his last seven starts. Summerville has also picked up three yellow cards in that stretch. 

Summerville should match up against Lewis Hall on the flank here - the Newcastle left back has switched to the opposite side to cover for the absent Tino Livramento and Kieran Trippier. Hall is averaging 1.84 fouls drawn per 90 this season, and he has been adept at drawing contact and buying free kicks.

With those two aforementioned injuries, Dan Burn has returned to left back in recent weeks to fill in. Even though it is a position where Burn has featured already this term, he just doesn’t look very comfortable at full back, and West Ham will hope to exploit that. Standing at 6ft 7in, Burn tends to struggle against technical and more nimble wingers, and Bowen fits that description perfectly - he is averaging 1.25 fouls drawn per 90 this season.

Burn has been carded in two of his last three appearances since returning to left back, which shows how he has struggled at times. He has started 10 games across all competitions at left back this season, and has accumulated five yellow cards and a red in that time. He should have plenty of duels to contest again this weekend, which makes this price stand out.

Taty Castellanos is another West Ham player who has been amongst the fouls in recent weeks, and he has been carded in four of his last five appearances.

The Argentine international isn't one to shy away from a physical battle, and he often drops deeper to try and win the ball back for his side. Because of that, he is averaging 2.13 fouls per 90 this season since arriving from Lazio in the January transfer window. 

With four Premier League goals from 16 appearances, Castellanos hasn't been the most prolific in front of goal. Still, he consistently has been able to find good chances, and he is averaging 2.75 shots per 90 this season.

Castellanos has also registered a shot on target in each of his last five consecutive matches - he is adept at finding space in the box, and the Hammers will need him to be clinical this weekend.

Bruno Guimaraes has returned to the first team picture for Newcastle and has immediately made his side look more competent in midfield.

He had four shots against Nottingham Forest last time out, of which three hit the target, so he was unfortunate not to score in the end. All three of his efforts, which were saved, came from inside the box, while Guimaraes had a free-kick which narrowly went wide of the post, highlighting just how involved he is going forward.  

The Brazilian is averaging 1.52 shots per 90 in the league this season, which is impressively high for a defensive midfielder, but that figure rises even further when playing on home turf. In fact, he has landed this selection in four of his last five appearances at St James’ Park, with three goals in that time as well.