Michail Antonio is no stranger to the public airing of the odd punchy opinion, as West Ham supporters, David Moyes and, in particular, Tottenham striker Richarlison can all attest.

So, given the timing of the West Ham forward's appearance on Sky Sports's Monday Night Football this week — in the aftermath of Arsenal's "over-celebrated" victory against Liverpool and days before the Hammers meet Mikel Arteta's side themselves — it would hardly have been a surprise to hear the Jamaican stir the pot.

Instead, though, Antonio's impressive, insightful on-screen performance came without controversy and with plenty of respect paid towards the challenge that awaits West Ham on Sunday, as he nears a comeback after returning to training following three months out with an injured knee.

"When it comes to those games, it's so hard to compute everything you've got to do," he said of facing the likes of Arsenal and Manchester City. "When you come up against these teams, you just know you're going to be running a lot and it's going to be a hard day."

Hard, yes, but in recent times for West Ham, fruitful, too. Moyes's men have triumphed twice in this fixture already this term, matching their win tally against the Gunners across the course of the previous 15 years, and also inflicted a damaging blow in the form of a comeback draw during last season's run-in.

All three games produced positive results in notably different fashions. The 2-2 in this exact fixture back in April was something of a freak afternoon, Arsenal two goals up inside 15 minutes but then crumbling under the pressure of their title chase as a West Ham side there for the taking fought back and Bukayo Saka missed from the penalty spot.

A 3-1 victory in this season's Carabao Cup was the product of a much more dominant display, Arsenal blunted in the first half and West Ham ruthless in the second as the infantile relationship between Jarrod Bowen, Mohammed Kudus and Lucas Paqueta began to blossom.

It did come, though, against a rotated side and as such Moyes will surely look to December's superb Premier League victory at the Emirates for a blueprint as his men seek a quick-fire hat-trick.

A 2-0 triumph on that night was built on a trademark, resilient defensive display, one that came, notably, despite losing Paqueta to injury early on and left visiting supporters singing Moyes's name with more gusto than at any point in the campaign.

A run of six matches without a win since, however, has dampened enthusiasm for the Scot's expected contract renewal and while their league position has not suffered notably as a result just yet, his team could be ninth by kick-off.

West Ham will remain without both Paqueta and Antonio, and while Moyes has tended to pack his midfield in games of this nature, he faces a tricky decision over whether to trust Kalvin Phillips given the Englishman's difficult start to his loan spell.