FOOTBALL journalist Adam Goodwin (@AGJournalism) shares his verdict on Southampton's showdown against West Ham at St Mary's on Thursday night.
Southampton v West Ham | Thursday 27th December 2018, 19:45 | Sky Sports
Ralph Hasenhuttl has enjoyed a fairly decent start to his Premier League managerial campaign, losing one and winning two of his first three games as Southampton manager.
A loss in his first game clearly came too soon, but victories against Arsenal and Huddersfield mean that the Saints have firmly moved out of the relegation zone.
Danny Ings has been the catalyst to Southampton’s upturn in form, and the former Liverpool striker now four goals in his last four games. That’s six goals so far this season and he’s in hot form – you wouldn’t bet against him finding the back of the net again on Saturday.
West Ham
After winning four games on the spin, West Ham suffered defeat at home to Watford on Saturday, a disappointing loss when you consider their good form. Javier Hernandez had multiple chances to find an equaliser at 1-0 down, but the Mexican just couldn’t find the back of the net.
The Hammers have only lost one of their last seven away games in all competitions and they’ve kept clean sheets in their last two matches away from the London Stadium.
Bar losses against Liverpool and Arsenal, their only defeat away from home this season was against Brighton in October, so they don’t struggle when on the road.
The betting angle
Danny Ings and Javier Hernandez have been their sides best source of goals this season and, collectively, have scored seven goals in their last eight games.
Both managers tend to like an attacking style of football and I can see a few goals in this, and I can see both of these guys getting on the scoresheet.
Ings and Chicharito both to score is available at 5/1 with Sky Bet and, in an entertaining game, I think these two will be amongst the goals.
Best Bets
Southampton v West Ham – Danny Ings and Javier Hernandez to score (5/1 SkyBet)
