London Stadium is the venue as West Ham United and Southampton go head-to-head in an exciting Premier League showdown.
Going into November’s international break, West Ham sat third in the Premier League standings with sincere hopes of mounting pressure on Champions League qualification.
However, David Moyes’ men have stumbled out of the blocks on the back of November’s restart, picking up just one win from six league matches (D2, L3).
A run of underwhelming form has derailed the Hammers’ chances of eking out their first-ever Premier League top-four finish.
Coming into this matchday, West Ham fell to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Arsenal and will be keen to return into the win column against mid-table opposition here.
Following a brace of 1-0 victories over Aston Villa and Watford in late October-early November, Southampton have gone winless in their last six Premier League outings on the trot (D3, L3).
The Saints have conceded at least twice in five of those six matches, including the last two in a row against West Ham’s fellow London rivals Crystal Palace (2-2) and Arsenal (0-3).
With Southampton’s fears of being sucked into another exhausting relegation battle growing, under-fire manager Ralph Hasenhuttl has started to feel the heat.
West Ham United vs Southampton Head-To-Head
A scoreless draw in the reverse fixture at St Mary’s Stadium means West Ham have kept a clean sheet in three successive Premier League meetings with Southampton (W1, D2).
Since succumbing to a 3-2 away defeat in August 2017, the Hammers have gone unbeaten in their last eight top-flight encounters against the Saints (W6, D2).
A draw is seemingly off the table here, as none of the last 18 Premier League clashes between West Ham and Southampton in London have ended level, with the hosts registering 14 wins in that period (L4).
West Ham United Preview
West Ham have often struggled on Boxing Day of late, having won just one of their last seven such Premier League fixtures (D3, L3), courtesy of a 4-1 victory at Swansea in 2016/17.
But it’s worth noting that the Hammers’ last Premier League home game on Boxing Day dates back to 2013/14 when they lost 3-1 to bitter rivals Arsenal.
After drawing a blank in their last two top-flight outings, the Londoners face the prospect of going three Premier League matches without scoring for the first time since June 2020.
Moyes’ men have hit their stride at home since losing the Premier League newcomers Brentford in October, racking up three wins in their four home league matches since (D1).
Worryingly, West Ham’s headline performer Michail Antonio has failed to get on the scoresheet in eight consecutive league appearances since netting a winner against Tottenham in late October.
Southampton Preview
Southampton’s away Premier League record on Boxing Day reads indifferently (W3, D5, L3), while this will be their 11th such encounter against London opposition.
Barring a 1-0 win at newly-promoted Watford in October, the Saints have failed to win any of their remaining eight away league games this season (D3, L5), losing three of the last four by an aggregate score of 9-1.
Only three sides have conceded more Premier League goals on the road than Southampton (19) so far this season.
Hasenhuttl’s men tend to collapse after half-time, as they are one of only five Premier League teams to have conceded 10+ away second-half league goals this term (11).
Chelsea loanee Armando Broja is Southampton’s top scorer in the Premier League this season with a mere four goals, all of which have come across his six top-flight starts to date.
West Ham United vs Southampton Predicted Line-ups
West Ham United (4-2-3-1): Lucasz Fabianski; Vladimir Coufal, Craig Dawson, Issa Diop, Ben Johnson; Declan Rice, Tomas Soucek; Jarrod Bowen, Pablo Fornals, Said Benrahma; Andriy Yarmolenko.
Southampton (4-4-2): Willy Caballero; Tino Livramento, Mohammed Salisu, Lyanco Vojinovic, Kyle Walker-Peters; Theo Walcott, James Ward-Prowse, Oriol Romeu, Nathan Redmond; Armando Broja, Nathan Tella.
