West Ham will be aiming to move into the European places this weekend if they can manage to win against 17th placed Southampton. Despite losing against Arsenal 3-1 in their last match, the Hammers will be confident that they can defeat the Saints at home this Saturday which would become their fourth win of the season so far.
The bad news for Sam Allardyce will be the absence of Ricardo Vaz Te who is out for 3 months with a shoulder injury, however he does have the choice of on-loan Yossi Benayoun, Mali-international Modibo Maiga, Carlton Cole, Matty Taylor and Gary O'Neil to replace the injured Portuguese striker.
Yossi Benayoun will especially be hoping for a place in the starting line-up. He stated in an interview last week that he is really enjoying himself back at Upton Park and will hope to extend his loan spell to the end of the season, as the current deal only keeps him at the club until January.
Nigel Adkins may not have the same luxury after star signing Gaston Ramirez picked up a severe dead leg that could keep him out until December. Much of Southampton's hopes of survival were pinned on the Uruguayan, who signed for a club record £12 million this summer, however the Saints do have right-back Nathaniel Clyne back in the squad after he missed the clash with Fulham.
Southampton won 1-0 at St Marys when the side met last season in the Championship and earned a 1-1 draw in the corresponding fixture at Upton Park, but both squads have changed considerably since then.
Guy Demel is also a doubt for the Hammers after picking up a knock against Arsenal. Although he travelled to the Ivory Coast for the World Cup qualifiers, he didn't feature due to his lack of fitness. However, full-back Joey O'Brien may be fit once again after being subbed off due to injury against QPR in the 2-1 victory at Loftus Road.
Likely West Ham First 11: Jaaskelainen, O'Brien, Collins, Reid, McCartney, Noble, Diame, Benayoun, Nolan, Jarvis, Carroll
My prediction: West Ham's successful home form combined with Southampton's poor away form should be enough evidence to show that this will be a very difficult task for the Saints to get anything from this game. The attacking combination of Jarvis and Carroll, the defensive barricade of Reid and Collins and the determination of Benayoun to make an impression in the West Ham side will almost definitely be too much for Southampton to handle.
West Ham 3 Southampton 0
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