England Premier League
Saturday 29th February 2020
Kick off at 3pm GMT
Venue: London Stadium
Match Preview:
The bad news for West Ham is that they are in 18th place with 11 games left to play. The good news is that despite losing their last two games against Manchester City and Liverpool respectively they haven’t lost any ground on the teams above them because they lost too.
This is why the game against Southampton at the weekend will feel like a cup final for the Hammers. They still have some very hard fixtures coming up and if they are going to survive this season they need to be at least winning their home games. That’s easier said than done given that they have won just 3 at home so far. David Moyes has only won 1 game as manager of West Ham since he took over 2 months ago and it does look bleak for the club.
However a win here could see them climb as high as 16th depending on other results, and they will have to channel their performance over Bournemouth when they won 4-0 in Moyes’ first game back in charge. Though they lost to Liverpool in their last match it was a game that ended a respectable 3-2. The Hammers were actually 2-1 up at Anfield at one moment, surely putting in repeat performances like that against lesser opposition would be enough to keep the club up? But this is football, which is very rarely as simple as that.
Southampton are in 12th place and have 10 more points than their hosts and they will be safe this season. They beat Aston Villa 2-0 last weekend, which stopped a 2 game losing run, but the Saints overall form has not been good with 3 defeats from their last five games.
Team News:
West Ham: Ryan Fredericks is still out with a shoulder injury. Tomas Soucek is ruled out for 3 weeks with a groin injury.
Southampton: Moussa Djenepo is a doubt for personal reasons. Nathan Redmond isn’t due back until the beginning of April with a muscle injury.
West Ham vs Southampton Head to Head:
West Ham won this fixture last season 3-0.
Southampton have won once from the last 4 visits to West Ham.
There is a 70% chance to see over 2.5 goals.
In the reverse fixture earlier this season West Ham won 1-0.
West Ham vs Southampton Prediction:
Perhaps the bad news for West Ham is that Southampton have performed better away from home, they have won 20 points on the road from the 34 they have, that’s almost 60% of their total points. Both teams are priced equally to win the game. It is a blow that the Hammers have lost new loan signing Soucek and it is difficult for us to back a club who are clearly lacking confidence. What does it mean if they raised their game against Liverpool? It is beating teams like Southampton at the weekend that will ultimately matter for the club. Can they play under pressure against a side who will be relaxed and play well away from home? It isn’t beyond the realms of possibility but we feel it could be safer to target goals for this match. After West Ham's attacking display against Liverpool they may try the same tactic this weekend, which makes Over 2.5 goals and both teams to score options worth looking at.
West Ham vs Southampton Betting Tips:
Both teams to score (Yes) at 1.61
Total goals (Over 2.5) at 1.72
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