EPL: Southampton v West Ham preview

Southampton v West Ham preview

West Ham will need to produce a much-improved showing at Southampton after starting the season with a heavy defeat.

Slaven Bilic’s men were hammered 4-0 by Manchester United last Sunday and the Croat admits his team deserved nothing from their trip to Manchester. 

The Hammers are on the road again this week due to the London Stadium being unavailable but are at least heading to a ground where they have recent happy memories having won at St Mary’s last season. 

That was the Londoners first win at Southampton in 17 years and Bilic will be eager for a repeat performance after finding himself under some early pressure.

West Ham have been boosted by the news last season’s topscorer Michail Antonio is available after recovering from injury but they are still without midfielders Cheikhou Kouyate and Manuel Lanzini and striker Andy Carroll, although all three are back in training.

New signings Javier Hernandez and Marko Arnautovic got precious few opportunities to show their attacking talent last week at Old Trafford and will hope for more as West Ham go in search of a rare away win having won just one of the last eight on their travels. 

Southampton fans might have felt a sense of déjà vu with their goalless draw against Swansea last week, the Saints having struggled to find the back of the net at home all last season. 

Their poor form in front of goal eventually cost Claude Puel his job but new manager Mauricio Pellegrino did not enjoy much more success, despite his team dominating possession. 

It is now six home matches without a goal for Saints fans, who will hope West Ham’s defence is as generous as it was last week as they seek to end their drought. 

Saturday’s match will mark the start of a new era for Southampton after being Chinese businessman Jisheng Gao bought a controlling stake in the club this week. 

The club’s new partners could provide Saints with some much-needed funds to improve the squad, Mario Lemina and Jan Bednarek being the only new arrivals on the south coast thus far.

Both new signings were on the bench last week but could feature this weekend, while Ryan Bertrand is available again. Virgil van Dijk remains the only absentee amid ongoing transfer speculation.