West Ham United travel to St. Mary’s Stadium for their second straight away game of the season. After suffering a humiliating loss at the hands of Manchester United in the opening fixture, the Slaven Bilic managed side would be hoping to make some dire amends to their fortunes.
Southampton had a mixed start to the season. Despite managing 29 shots against Swansea City last week, they managed to get only two of them on target. Hence, they had to play out a stalemate against the Swans. Mauricio Pellegrino will be hoping to bring in some direction to this Southampton side as they hope to register their first victory of the new Premier League season.
Team News
West Ham United have made some ambitious signings this summer. By securing the signatures of Javier Hernandez and Marko Arnautovic, they have bolstered their attack. Hernandez will be hoping to leave his mark on the pitch after a rather disappointing show against Manchester United last weekend. Slaven Bilic has also signed Joe Hart on a season long loan deal. They added right back Pablo Zabaleta to their defence. However, all the four new signings had disappointing debuts; they can be excused as they were facing a rather strong Manchester United team in front of their home crowd.
Contrary to their opponents, Southampton’s transfer window has been dominated by defender Virgil Van Djik’s transfer saga. The only high-profile signing made by the Saints has been that of Mario Lemina from Juventus. The Gabonese midfielder was signed for $19.72 million and is expected to add much more depth to Southampton’s midfield. The former Juventus man is excellent in his passing skills and likes to hold on to the ball. If given a chance by Pellegrino, Mario Lemina can provide Southampton with the cutting-edge in this match.
What to expect?
One should expect West Ham United to comeback strongly at St. Mary’s Stadium. In the absence of Virgil Van Djik, Javier Hernandez and Marko Aurnotovic would be relishing to pose a threat to the Saints’ defence. Jack Stephens and Maya Yoshida face a tough challenge ahead to keep West Ham United’s new signings off the score sheet.
Southampton would be hoping that their attacking players take some more shots on target this time and striker Manolo Gabbiadini would be key for that.
Recent Form:
West Ham United: L
Southampton: D
Predicted Lineups:
Southampton
Goalkeeper: Fraser Forster
Defence: Cedric Soares, Jack Stephens, Maya Yoshida, Ryan Bertrand
Midfielders: Steven Davis, Oriol Romeu, James Ward-Prowse, Dusan Tadic, Nathan Redmond
Striker: Manolo Gabbiadini
West Ham:
Goalkeeper: Joe Hart
Defenders: Pablo Zabaleta, Winston Reid, Angelo Ogbonna, Arthur Masuaku
Midfielders: Mark Noble, Pedro Obiang, Andre Ayew, Edimilson Fernandes, Marko Arnautovic
Striker: Javier Hernandez
Expected Scoreline:
West Ham 2- 1 Southampton
Odds:
Southampton: 4/5
West Ham: 74/17
Draw: 3/1