An out-of-sorts West Ham United side will face Burnley, who are enjoying their best season since the 1973-74 campaign, this weekend in a 3pm kick-off at the London Stadium.
Treatment room
The Hammers will be unable to call upon the services of Pedro Obiang, Winston Reid, Edimilson Fernandes and Andy Carroll through injury, whilst Arthur Masuaku will serve the final leg of his six game ban after being shown red for spitting at Wigan Athletic’s Nick Powell in an FA Cup clash last January.
Angelo Ogbonna and James Collins are expected to be back in contention after missing last weekend’s defeat at Swansea City.
David Moyes’ outfit have only won one in their last six and find themselves just three points off the relegation zone again, having conceded the joint most amount of goals in the Premier League this season.
Pressure
Having come off the back of two consecutive 4-1 away defeats, Moyes, speaking to whufc.com, has stressed the importance of Saturday’s contest: “we’re having to make sure we pick up points, but obviously the games are not easy against any of the teams, it doesn’t matter who you are playing”.
Opposition
Burnley, on the other hand, will be looking to strengthen their chances of playing European football at Turf Moor next season. A 2-1 win against Everton on the weekend ended a run of 12 games in all competitions without a win, consolidating their position in seventh place and closing the gap on Arsenal to just five points. The Clarets will be without key men Robbie Brady and Steven Defour for the weekend’s clash.
Marching orders
Away from the pitch, there is expected to be an air of discontent in East London on Saturday. Despite the Real West Ham Fans Action calling off a planned march against the running of the club, a number of disillusioned supporters are still expected to air their grievances prior to kick-off. Yet another loss on Saturday is expected to further increase the pressure on owners David Gold and David Sullivan.