The Hammers will travel to the South Coast to face Ralph Hasenhuttl’s Southampton side at 3pm on Saturday in the Premier League.
West Ham go into this match in excellent form, sitting second in the league table with seven points from our first three games. We have performed incredibly offensively scoring 10 goals already, the joint highest in the divison, but will need to focus on getting a clean sheet in this match.
Southampton, on the other hand, are yet to pick up a win this season, recording two hard-earned draws and a defeat to go 13th in the league.
The last time West Ham met the Saints was on the final day of the 2020/21 season. Two goals from Pablo Fornals and an extra one from Declan Rice ensured a 3-0 victory, a place in this year’s Europa League group stages and our highest finish in the table for 22 years.
With that in mind, we’ve picked the side we believe Moyes will pick for this weekend’s fixture…
GK: Lukasz Fabianski
West Ham’s current number one keeper should definitely still retain his spot in the starting XI. Moyes trusts him completely despite not keeping a clean sheet so far this season.
New loan signing Alphonse Areola will be on his tail but the Polish international should keep his spot against the Saints.
RB: Vladimir Coufal
After playing three games during the international break, Coufal will only have a few days to recover before playing on Saturday. That being said, the Czech Republic full-back will definitely start on Saturday and rarely disappoints.
RCB: Kurt Zouma
The major change David Moyes could make on Saturday is swapping Craig Dawson out for new £29million signing Kurt Zouma. Arriving from France after being on international duty, the former Chelsea man will have a point to prove against Southampton on his debut.
Although Dawson was a trustful squad player last season, a few mistakes have almost cost us in the new campaign, which is why Zouma might start.
LCB: Angelo Ogbonna
Zouma will stand next to his new centre back partner Angelo Ogbonna against the Saints. Ogbonna has been a rock in defence over the past couple of years and will be happy to see a stronger effort this time out.
LB: Aaron Cresswell
As with most of the defence, Cresswell remains in the left-back position this weekend. His crossing and work rate down the left-hand side will be hard to stop and the likes of Antonio will continue to thrive on his deliveries.
CDM: Tomas Soucek
Like Coufal, Soucek also comes off the back of three games in two weeks with his national team. Despite the deadline day signing of Alex Kral on a season-long loan, we can expect Soucek to keep his place in defensive midfield.
CDM: Declan Rice
As with our on-field captain and star man Declan Rice, Kral is unlikely to replace him in the starting XI. Rice has had a great week on England duty and even grabbed a goal against Hungary in their first game.
RM: Jarrod Bowen
On the right, Jarrod Bowen will look to extend his excellent run of form for West Ham and find his first goal of the new campaign against a beatable Saints defence. His work rate and attacking prowess down the right-wing will persuade Moyes to keep him in the starting XI this weekend.
CAM: Pablo Fornals
Often switching in this position and the left-wing with Said Benrahma, Fornals looks set to keep his place as our central attacking midfielder. The 25-year-old has already scored two goals and grabbed two assists this season, one with Spain during the international break.
Despite the arrival of Nikola Vlasic for £27million, who plays in this position, Fornals should not be swapped out so soon.
LM: Said Benrahma
As with Fornals, Said Benrahma is in excellent form and it would be hard for manager David Moyes to swap him out for new signing Vlasic.
The 26-year-old has already scored twice and assisted twice in the league this season, highlighting the emphatic form that he is in right now.
ST: Michail Antonio
One player that is almost irreplaceable when fit at the moment (and not because we have no other strikers), is Michail Antonio.
West Ham’s all-time top PL scorer is in the form of his life, scoring four goals and assisting three times in just three games already this season. Antonio will definitely start if fit against Southampton on Saturday.
