WEST HAM VS SOUTHAMPTON PREVIEW & PREDICTION
West Ham United against Southampton is a degradation cracker. West Ham United is currently still above Southampton and is also directly above the relegation streak, but that can be completely different after the duel between these two teams.
West Ham United:
It would of course be a disaster for a club like West Ham United if they relegated to the Championship this season. Still, degradation does belong to the possibilities for The Hammers, because we can not really say that it goes smoothly this season at the club from London. West Ham United, led by David Moyes, is still over the top after thirty matches and has played a game less than a lot of competitors, but it is not the case that the West Ham United supporters confident that their club knows how to turn away relegation. Moreover, the English media also write that Moyes, probably the worst manager ever of West Ham United, is likely to be fired quickly and in England they think that Marco Silva will be the successor of the Scottish coach.
That there is not much confidence with The Hammers has to do with the recent results. The Hammers managed to win only one of their last eight games and only scored three points from the last five Premier League matches. Especially the last two games of West Ham United must have hurt at The Hammers and those two duels also showed immediately that this West Ham is extremely vulnerable. First West Ham United lost no chance with 4-1 visiting Swansea City and two weeks ago Burnley won no less than 0-3 against West Ham United at the London Stadium. Of course you can depict the 0-3 defeat against Burnley as an incident if it were not that West Ham United has often missed points against competitors in recent weeks.
It is of course the question whether Moyes will get it started at West Ham United. On the one hand, Moyes has a lot of quality in the selection with players like Manuel Lanzini and Marko Arnautović, but the Scottish coach also often has to miss players this season and on top of that comes the pressure that the supporters impose on the club. This weekend, when Southampton visits London Stadium, The Hammers may take a step in the right direction, but West Ham United must play a lot better than they did against Swansea City and Burnley.
Southampton:
At Southampton they had not expected a few months ago that after thirty matches they would be so badly in the Premier League. Obviously, there is currently no man overboard at The Saints, but the fact that Mauricio Pellegrino was fired halfway this month indicates that the Southampton board is not so sure of a good outcome. With Mark Hughes a manager was appointed with a past at Southampton and he has to make sure that The Saints does not relegate to the Championship, but the competition is big and that is what they have at Southampton now.
Hughes did manage to win his first game as coach of Southampton, but that was not a league game. Hughes, who was born in Wales, knew the places for the semi-final of the FA Cup with Southampton, but it must be said that Southampton did not have to play against the most appealing opponent. Wigan Athletic managed to clear Manchester City from the FA Cup earlier this season, but Hughes did not surprise himself in the first game and saw Southampton win 0-2 vs. Wigan.
With only two losses from the last twelve games you would think that Southampton is not doing so bad lately. The Saints, however, only knew one of the last seventeen league matches to win and that is also the reason why Southampton is ranked so low at the moment. If Hughes succeeds in winning his first league game with Southampton, then The Saints are no longer under the line, but in recent months it has been proven that Southampton is not so easy to win in the Premier League.
PREDICTION: Both teams to score / YES @ 1.83
