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Another midfield bruiser who’s been getting kicked plenty is Everton Idrissa Gueye. The Senegalese international has drawn 1.38 fouls per 90 across the season and having been hauled down 14 times in his last seven league starts, is in excellent foul winning form. 

Competing with Gueye in physical duels will be West Ham’s midfield combination of Mateus Fernandes, Tomas Soucek and Pablo, all of whom are familiar names to the officials. Between them they’ve committed a massive 5.66 fouls per 90 this season and with the Hammers desperately scrapping for survival, there should be a few hefty challenges coming Gueye’s way.

Sat just two points above the drop zone, every game is crucial for West Ham and they’ll be grateful for the return of talisman Crysencio Summerville for the run-in. The Dutch winger has been one of their best players all season and had scored five goals since the turn of the year before his injury. Summerville averages 2.25 shots per 90 in home games and has had two or more in eight of his last ten starts at the London Stadium. 

The wind will have been taken out of Everton sails by Virgil van Dijk’s late winner in the Merseyside derby and they travel to London conceding the third most shots on the road in the division at 16.6 per game. In the reverse fixture, the Hammers were afforded 14 attempts at goal with Summerville taking three of those and they could be in for another tough afternoon here.

West Ham have barely got their head above water, as they are two points above Spurs in their battle for survival. Nottingham Forest made it five games unbeaten after they won 4-1 against Burnley last time out, so they have established some daylight between themselves and the bottom three, which puts plenty of pressure on West Ham heading into this clash. The Hammers haven’t performed too well at the London Stadium this season, and have only won four of their 16 matches overall. 

By contrast, Everton have been a stubborn side to face on their travels, and they rank fifth in the league for total points accumulated when playing away. The Toffees boast the record of seven wins, four draws and just five losses from their 16 away matches this season, and those two trends marry up nicely to back Everton this weekend.

Everton have only conceded 18 goals from their 16 away matches in the league this season - only Arsenal, Man City and Crystal Palace have conceded less. David Moyes prefers his side to remain compact on their travels, which can often make for some low-scoring encounters, but it has been effective for Everton. That tendency to sit deep and invite pressure means they are conceding an average of 5.75 corners per game in the league when playing away, and this selection has landed in seven of their last eight matches. 

West Ham have had to raise their intensity in recent weeks, and that will have to be the case here again. Because of that, they have hit this mark in seven of their last eight Premier League matches. The Hammers have been effective at utilising width to generate corners this season, and they are averaging 5.5 corners per game in the Premier League. 

Taty Castellanos bagged himself a brace against Wolves a couple of weeks ago, which was much-needed to boost his confidence. He came closest to scoring for West Ham against Crystal Palace last time out, as he had a shot cleared off the line, but the centre forward hasn’t lacked effort and is always looking to pick up promising positions. Castellanos is averaging 2.2 fouls per 90 across all competitions since joining from Lazio in the summer, which is one of the highest figures in the West Ham squad. 

He isn’t one to shy away from a physical duel, and often looks to drop into deeper areas to try and win the ball back for his side. He has landed this selection in eight of his nine appearances at the London Stadium this season, including three bookings in that time. He only failed to register a foul against Man City. 

David Moyes has typically rotated Thierno Barry and Beto throughout the season, but the latter seems to have established himself as a starter in recent weeks, and he comes into this clash in excellent form. The Portuguese international bagged his eighth Premier League goal of the season against Liverpool last time out, as he poked home from a low cross into the box. That extended his streak to three consecutive games with a goal, which shows how he is a man in form. 

Beto also found the back of the net against Brentford, and he scored a brace against Chelsea before that, helping his side to a 3-0 win at the Hill Dickinson Stadium. He is averaging 2.53 shots per 90 this season in the league from limited minutes, but 42% of those have hit the target, which shows how Beto is able to find himself in promising goalscoring positions relatively often.