Premier League Matchday 27: West Ham vs. Southampton

Start Time: 8:00 a.m. CST on April 2, 2023

Location: London Stadium, England

FanDuel Betting Odds: West Ham -135; Draw +270; Southampton +400

West Ham (19th in the Premier League); Manager: David Moyes

Recent Results: 4-0 win vs. AEK Larnaca (Europa Conference League); 1-1 draw vs. Aston Villa (Premier League); 2-0 win vs. AEK Larnaca (Europa Conference League)

Southampton (20th in the Premier League); Manager: Ruben Selles

Recent Results: 3-3 draw vs. Spurs (Premier League); 0-2 loss vs. Brentford (Premier League); 0-0 draw vs. Manchester United (Premier League).

FotMob Lineups:

After the international break, 19th-place West Ham host bottom-of-the-table Southampton for a true relegation six-pointer at the London Stadium.

With only 12 matches remaining this season, the Hammers are running out of time to climb out of this relegation dogfight. We never should have been here in the first place, but a series of poor decisions and bad performances means West Ham are in dire need of three points today.

Luckily for West Ham, recent history favors them today. The Hammers have lost just one of their last 10 matches against the Saints, and they are still unbeaten at the London Stadium in 2023 (W2 D2). Fabianski and Kehrer and back in the Starting XI, but Scamacca is nowhere to be found. Supposedly he's been injured in warmups.

That means Danny Ings will start upfront for West Ham. The Englishman has had an interesting start to his career at the London Stadium. Early impressions remind me a lot of Chicharito, a striker that fires on all cylinders when he receives service but offers nothing otherwise. He'll be going up against a shaky Southampton defense, which has leaked 46 goals this season.

For how bad the Saints have been this season, they've had some positive results under new manager Ruben Selles. Southampton picked up a 1-0 win against Leicester, and points against Manchester United, and most recently, Spurs. They rely heavily on the play of captain James Ward-Prowse, who has continued to be one of the world's top set-piece takers this season.

Despite our play this season, I'm relatively hopeful going into this match. Though we just haven't been able to score goals this season, our midfield will overrun Southampton's during the 90 minutes.

Out of our 12 matches remaining, this is our best chance to pick up all three points, and I think the Hammers will get it done this afternoon.

Premier League Matchday 27 Prediction: West Ham 2 Southampton 0

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