Southampton v West Ham: Saints preferred in six-pointer

SOUTHAMPTON welcome West Ham on Saturday for a six-pointer at the bottom of the Premier League. Anthony Olsson (@Ant_olsson93) analyses the encounter.

Southampton v West Ham | Saturday 14th December 2019, 17:30 | Sky Sports

Southampton host West Ham on Saturday night and they’ll be looking to bounce back to winning ways after their defeat to Newcastle last time out. Before that defeat the Saints had gone three games unbeaten, including back-to-back home wins against fellow relegation-threatened sides.

West Ham, on the other hand, have won one game in their last 11 in all competitions and there is growing unrest among the Hammers faithful. Manager Manuel Pellegrini is coming under increased pressure and a defeat here could see the West Ham board take action to steady the ship.

The Hammers struggles of late seem to have coincided with the injury to first-choice keeper Lukas Fabianski. West Ham did manage to grab a 1-0 win away at Chelsea but that seems like a bit of an anomaly and they went down with a whimper in their next match losing 2-0 to Wolves.

This game is massive for both sides as three points could see the winner clear of the relegation zone ahead of a busy Christmas period. I think Southampton will look to take advantage of playing at home and I expect a physical start from the home team, but that might not lead to early goals.

The Saints have yet to score a home goal before the 15-minute mark and I think it could take them a bit longer to get on the scoresheet. If they are to find the back of the net they’ll look toward in-form striker, Danny Ings, who has five goals in his last five games and he is 11/10 (Blacktype) to net.

With West Ham’s poor away form and Southampton’s recent upturn at home, I think it would be better to side with the hosts to win this one. The Saints have managed two goals in their last two home wins and I think they could repeat that again come Saturday night. The visitors have conceded twice or more in five of their last six on the road.

I like the look of Southampton to win and Over 1.5 Goals at 6/5 (Paddy Power). As I said previously, I think this game will be huge for both sides; if West Ham don’t come away with a positive result it could see a change of management. The threat of a relegation fight looms large for both, hopefully for the neutral it provides a good spectacle.