MY ACCOUNT
– West Ham have won five of their last 10 home PL games
– Southampton have lost four of their last seven away league games
– All 13 of West Ham’s 2022-23 home league games have seen at least two goals
– Recommended Bet: West Ham to win and over 1.5 goals
After correctly predicting Southampton would trade goals with Tottenham, Simon Barlow is back to assess the Saints’ chances in a massive relegation battle with West Ham.
West Ham face a crunch relegation six-pointer at home to rock-bottom Southampton on Sunday with reports suggesting David Moyes and his staff fear getting the sack if the Hammers fail to win.
Sitting 18th in the Premier League with 12 league matches remaining, West Ham are firmly in the mix to lose their top-flight status.
But Southampton have placed themselves in an even more serious predicament, recording one point fewer than the Hammers from two extra games played.
Ruben Selles’ squad dug themselves out of a deep hole against Tottenham just prior to the international break, earning a point from 3-1 down, and will bid to carry some positive momentum into the clash at London Stadium.
Team news
The good news for Moyes is that all his players returned from international duty unscathed and the Scot should have a fully-fit squad to choose from.
Vladimir Coufal came through 90 minutes against Moldova on Monday to put himself in the frame for his first Hammers start since he sustained a heel injury against Nottingham Forest in February.
Lukasz Fabianski has also been absent since that 4-0 win because of an eye injury, but he too is back in full training and pushing for a recall.
And Michail Antonio should also be available again after dealing with a calf injury in recent weeks.
For Southampton, Selles is sweating on the fitness of both Che Adams and Mohammed Salisu after the duo withdrew from their respective international fixtures for Scotland and Ghana because of injury niggles.
The visitors look set to be without a number of defenders, including Armel Bella-Kotchap and long-term absentees Tino Livramento and Juan Larios, but Jan Bednarek should be fine to start in the centre again after overcoming rib pain to complete two European Championship qualifiers for Poland during the break.
The stats
Southampton have picked up as many points in their six Premier League games under Selles as they had in 17 league matches before his appointment.
West Ham have lost just one of their past 10 Premier League games against Southampton, although the Saints did win at London Stadium last year and are looking to record consecutive away wins against the Hammers for the first time since April 1992.
Only Wolves (one) have scored fewer headed goals in the Premier League than West Ham (two) in 2022-23.
Prediction
The pressure will be on both teams when they walk out at London Stadium and one of them has proven to be much more solid under these circumstances.
While Southampton’s best performances have come when least expected — such as against Chelsea, Manchester United, Tottenham and Manchester City — they have flopped when the chips are down.
Contrastingly, the last time West Ham found themselves in the relegation zone on a Saturday morning they responded with a 4-0 thrashing of Nottingham Forest, and the time before that, they produced a 2-0 win over Everton.
Both results were achieved at home and that should be no surprise given Moyes’ men have taken 75% of their points in East London.
Having a fully-fit squad to choose from should help the Hammers boss keep intensity levels on the pitch high in this must-win game, which they can win with at least two goals in the game again.
Back West Ham to win and over 1.5 goals at 13/10 with LiveScore Bet.
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