Get set for Southampton's final outing of the 2020/21 season at West Ham on Sunday with our Match Pack, in association with eToro...
THE MATCH
West Ham vs Southampton
Premier League
London Stadium
Sunday 23rd May, 4pm BST
THE OFFICIALS
Referee: Martin Atkinson
Assistants: Constantine Hatzidakis, Jamess Mainwaring
Fourth official: Matt Donohue
VAR: Craig Pawson
Assistant VAR: Peter Kirkup
WHICH KIT WILL SAINTS BE WEARING?
Saints will be in their white with red trim third kit for the trip to the capital.
WHAT’S AT STAKE?
The curtain comes down on the 2020/21 campaign on Sunday, with West Ham targeting the point needed to ensure a spot in the Europa League group stage.
A win over West Brom on Wednesday guaranteed at least a seventh place finish – and a spot in the Europa Conference League play-off round – unless result go against them significantly this weekend.
There’s no such incentive for Saints, but a win and favourable results elsewhere would see Ralph Hasenhüttl’s side rise from 14th to 12th in the final standings.
Suffering defeat at the hands of Leeds last time out, the visitors will also be keen to end a turbulent season on a high before heading into the summer break.
TEAM NEWS
Ralph Hasenhüttl confirmed that Oriol Romeu could feature this weekend after continuing his return to first team training this week.
However, Saints will be unable to call upon Ché Adams who will miss out with a groin injury, although the manager confirmed the issue will not affect his EURO 2020 involvement with Scotland next month.
For the hosts, Darren Randolph will likely continue in goal after Łukasz Fabiański picked up an injury in the warm up ahead of the 3-1 win at West Brom on Wednesday.
FORM GUIDE
West Ham:
West Brom (a) 1-3 (Souček, Ogbonna, Antonio)
Brighton (a) 1-1 (Benrahma)
Everton (h) 0-1
Burnley (a) 0-2 (Antonio 2)
Chelsea (h) 0-1
Southampton:
Leeds (h) 0-2
Fulham (h) 3-1 (Adams, Tella, Walcott)
Crystal Palace (h) 3-1 (Ings 2, Adams)
Liverpool (a) 2-0
Leicester (h) 1-1 (Ward-Prowse)
THE MANAGERS
David Moyes: "They had a period where they went top of the league, so we went there knowing we'd have to play well, and we drew.
"Ralph Hasenhüttl's had a really good style of play to watch. We'll need to improve on that game, but I think we have improved greatly since then."
Ralph Hasenhüttl: "We are ending up in the position we deserve to end up. When we are 12th you say, ‘yes, one spot lower than last season is ok.’
“That would be great, but anything in between is a position we cannot be one hundred percent happy with, because there was more possible, I think."
ONES TO WATCH
Michail Antonio: Always a difficult customer for Southampton to handle, Antonio could equal Paolo Di Canio’s record of 47 Premier League goals for West Ham with a strike on Sunday.
With three goals in his last four matches, the striker will be looking to sign off on a high.
Danny Ings: Rested for the opening 45 minutes on Tuesday night, Ings will likely be restored to the starting line-up in the capital on Sunday.
The striker will look to repeat his recent exploits against Crystal Palace, where he scored two goals with his only two efforts on goal.
TOP PERFORMERS
West Ham:
Goals:
Antonio, Souček 10
Jesse Lingard 9
Jarrod Bowen 8
Assists:
Aaron Cresswell 8
Saïd Benrahma 7
Bowen, Coufal 6
Southampton:
Goals:
Danny Ings 13
Ward-Prowse, Adams 9
Armstrong 5
Assists:
James Ward-Prowse 7
Stuart Armstrong 6
Ché Adams 5
HEAD TO HEAD
Played: 110
West Ham: 45
Draws: 31
Saints: 34
DID YOU KNOW?
- Captain James Ward-Prowse hasn’t missed a single minute of Premier League football in either of the last two seasons – if he plays 90 minutes in this game, he will be the first midfielder to play every minute in consecutive seasons, and only the second midfielder to do so in more than one season, along with Gary McAllister (1993-94 with Leeds United, 1996-97 with Coventry City).
- Against no side has Theo Walcott scored more Premier League goals than he has against West Ham (6), while he’s only had more goal involvements against Newcastle (11) than he has against the Hammers (10 – 6 goals, 4 assists).
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