Kick-off: 1800, 29/12/2020
Stadium: St Mary’s Stadium
TV: Amazon Prime
Southampton have suffered five straight Premier League defeats versus West Ham but are fancied to buck that trend at St Mary’s Stadium.
Although Saints are only three points above the Hammers in the table, we have been far more impressed by Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side so far this season.
Punters can get 6/5 for a home win here and that is good enough to be our first Southampton vs West Ham prediction.
A Look At Southampton’s Betting Odds
Southampton were slightly subdued during a goalless draw at Fulham on Saturday but still had the ball in the back of the net twice, only for Shane Long and Theo Walcott efforts to be ruled out via VAR.
Being without Jannik Vestergaard, Oriol Romeu and Danny Ings took its toll at Craven Cottage but Hasenhuttl was satisfied with a point.
“I think we did a good job,” said the Austrian coach. “We had bigger chances, we scored two goals, one was a very close offside.
“But it’s very tough to win here because when you concede a goal it’s nearly impossible to come back into the game – we have seen this in the past.
“So it was the most important thing first of all to have a clean sheet. I think we did a good job against the ball.”
Saints had previously played well in defeat versus Manchester City and have generally thrived against teams below them in the table.
They have beaten Burnley, West Brom, Newcastle, Brighton and Sheffield United, as well as high-flying Everton and Aston Villa.
Fast starts have been a key part of their success and 5/2 for Saints to lead at half-time and full-time takes the eye from the Southampton vs West Ham odds.
Last Saints line-up: McCarthy, Walker-Peters, Bertrand, Stephens, Bednarek, Ward-Prowse, Armstrong, Diallo, Long, Adams, Walcott.
A Look At West Ham United’s Betting Odds
West Ham showed plenty of spirit when twice coming from behind to draw 2-2 with Brighton, which gave us a trio of successful selections, including a 12/1 correct score pay-out.
Ben Johnson and Tomas Soucek netted after the break, with the Hammers benefitting from bringing on Andriy Yarmolenko and Manuel Lanzini at the interval.
David Moyes told BBC Sport: “We saw a poor West Ham in the first half but we also saw a good Brighton team in the first half.
“They made it difficult for us but the resilience of the players kept us going and a few changes helped us.”
United will be content with 10th place in the table and have put in some really encouraging performances this term.
However, we just feel a busy schedule is starting to catch up with them, having only drawn at home to Crystal Palace and lost 3-0 at Chelsea in the run-up to Christmas.
With the Hammers having a day less than Saints to prepare for this contest, we’re going with a 2-1 home victory at 17/2 to complete our Southampton vs West Ham betting tips.
Last West Ham line-up: Fabianski, Cresswell, Balbuena, Coufal, Ogbonna, Johnson, Noble, Soucek, Rice, Bowen, Haller.
Additional stats
Last result:
Fulham 0-0 SOUTHAMPTON
WEST HAM 2-2 Brighton – Ben Johnson, Tomas Soucek
Head-to-head: West Ham 3-1 Southampton, Southampton 0-1 West Ham, West Ham 3-0 Southampton, Southampton 1-2 West Ham
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