West Ham will travel to high-flying Southampton on Wednesday night in what should be a closely contested match. After Southampton’s major upheaval in the summer, with stars Rickie Lambert and Adam Lallana leading the exodus, not many would have predicted that they would be in the position that they are now – 3rd in the Premier League after 24 games! Manager Ronald Koeman has made some shrewd signings such as striker Graziano Pelle and creator Dusan Tadic.
The reverse fixture was, I think, an unfair reflection on the two teams so early into the season. Mark Noble fired West Ham ahead but a Morgan Schneiderlin double put Southampton into the lead before Pelle confirmed their 3-1 victory with a late goal. Southampton’s side has not changed too much from then with the addition of Sadio Mane and the January arrivals of Elijero Elia and Filip Djuricic the only noticeable changes to their squad. The Hammers have had a more drastic shake-up as Carlton Cole, Ricardo Vaz Te, Mauro Zarate and Joey O’Brien all started this game for us. We have since reshuffled our formation to a 4-4-2 narrow diamond with Stewart Downing playing just behind Diafra Sakho and Enner Valencia. Carl Jenkinson was also not playing in the corresponding fixture and Alex Song was announced to the fans before kick-off at the game.
Both teams’ form has been questionable of late considering the explosive first half of the season enjoyed by Southampton and West Ham. Southampton have recently lost to both Crystal Palace and Swansea at home and narrowly scraped past strugglers QPR with a late clincher this weekend. A win would keep them in third place with Manchester United, Tottenham and Arsenal breathing down their necks. A point for us means we cannot drop below 8th place and victory could potentially lift us above Liverpool – should they fail to win themselves. A West Ham win would also narrow the gap between us and Southampton to just five points.
West Ham’s injury doubts include centre back pairing Winston Reid and James Collins, so Cheikhou Kouyate may be forced to continue at the back. Andy Carroll failed his fitness test prior to the Manchester United game but could possibly return for midweek. Southampton have no fresh injury concerns with Shane Long, Toby Alderweireld and Jay Rodriguez the only first team absentees.
