West Ham host Southampton at Upton Park
West Ham host Southampton at Upton Park as they look to bounce back from their midweek Capital One Cup exit at the hands of League One side Sheffield United.
Sam Allardyce’s men were held to a 1-1 draw after extra-time but crashed out on penalties as summer signing Enner Valencia missed the decisive spot-kick.
However, Allardyce made it clear his priorities lie with league matters as he made nine changes from the side that recorded an emphatic 3-1 win at Crystal Palace last weekend.
Southampton enjoyed better fortunes against lower league opposition during the week as Jack Cork and Graziano Pelle were on target in a 2-0 win at Millwall.
Ronald Koeman’s side are still searching for their first Premier League victory, though, having suffered defeat in their opening game at Liverpool before drawing with West Brom last weekend.
Their recent record against the Hammers will hardly fill them with confidence either having failed to collect three points in any of their last five meetings.
The Saints’ most recent win over West Ham came in the Championship as Jos Hooiveld scored the only goal in 2011, while their last win at Upton Park was back in December 2002 courtesy of a last minute James Beattie strike.
West Ham also had the better of last season’s meetings as they were 3-1 winners in this fixture after drawing 0-0 at St Mary’s.
Team News
Allardyce has a number of injuries to contend with and is expected to make wholesale changes from Tuesday night’s team.
Captain Kevin Nolan (shoulder) has been ruled out for up to six weeks, defender James Collins (hamstring) also misses out, as does winger Matt Jarvis (thigh). Diafra Sakho (back) is a doubt.
Carl Jenkinson (hamstring) is still a few weeks away from his return to fitness, while striker Andy Carroll (ankle) remains out of action.
Koeman revealed midfielder Lloyd Isgrove is "not in a good physical way" after coming off during the first half at Millwall with a knee injury.
Sam Gallagher (knee) is still recovering from injury and this game may come too soon for his return, while fellow striker Jay Rodriguez (also knee) remains sidelined.
Otherwise, Southampton have no fresh injury concerns.
Paul Merson's prediction:
I watched the Harlem Globetrotters last week and they were wearing a West Ham kit. I thought they were very good in the way they passed and moved against Crystal Palace and they mixed up their play nicely; I was very impressed.
Southampton had a free swing against Liverpool and did very well, but when they were expected to win at home against West Brom, things weren’t very good. I expect West Ham to win this game fairly comfortably.