Southampton v West Ham

Southampton will look to start life under Ivan Juric with 3 points when they host West Ham United on Boxing Day. The Hammers head to St Mary’s Stadium unbeaten in 3 matches and will be out to stop the new manager bounce in an intriguing festive clash.

⭐ Southampton v West Ham Best Bet

Taking the under in Southampton matches this season hasn’t been the most profitable play but under a coach who is renowned for being defensively minded, we can expect them to attempt to be a lot harder to beat here, although initially that is likely to come to the detriment of their attacking play. 

West Ham go into this match off the back of 2 under 2.5 matches, while Southampton have had 3 of their last 5 go under this line, this looks primed to be another.

🟢 Southampton v West Ham #WhatOddsPaddy Tip

The expected game state of this match will be for West Ham to have most of the ball and be on the front foot, with Southampton soaking up pressure and looking to launch counterattacks. That is generally how Ivan Juric teams have tried to play and that would appear to be why Southampton have recruited him. 

West Ham are in the middle of the road in the Premier League for corners won but in recent matches they have added numbers to their total in huge chunks. 

Since their 5-2 mauling against Arsenal, they have achieved 9 corners against Leicester, 11 against Wolves, 6 at Bournemouth and 8 against Brighton, so they are a side getting plenty of corners of late.

With West Ham likely to be invited to have the ball and with their wingers cutting inside and full-backs overlapping, 4 or more corners in each half is certainly not beyond them. 

Southampton have a new boss to impress and it might be that players are a little more up for doing that than normal, especially any that Juric brings in from the cold. 

This is a Southampton side that have picked up more bookings than any other team in the Premier League this term so they are not averse to finding their way into the notebook of the referee, against some tricky West Ham players, some mistimed tackles may occur.

We should expect a slightly more aggressive Saints outfit under the Croatian, with his teams often combative, so 1 card in each half for the home side feels very achievable too at a nice price.

👕 Southampton v West Ham Predicted XI

🔍 Southampton v West Ham Players to Watch

🔴 Tyler Dibling

If Southampton are going to get anything from this match, then they are going to need their young starlet Tyler Dibling to go well.

Dibling has recorded 6 league shots on target so far this term, the joint-highest for the Saints, and with a coach who relies on counterattacking from a low block, you would imagine the youngster will be more of a key figure in the team. His pace and trickery can get him into the box to hit the target at least once here.

🟤 Mohammed Kudus

Mohammed Kudus arrives into this match off the back of scoring for West Ham at the weekend and he can be taken at a fair price to hit the target here. Southampton have been one of the weakest in the league at the back and while they would be more likely to sit deep here, that could only invite Kudus to fire a shot on target.

There is no Lucas Paqueta for West Ham here so Kudus is likely to play high up on the left and is value to hit the target at 1.60.

🔴 Alex McCarthy

While we can expect Southampton to be more organised and disciplined defensively, Rome wasn’t built in a day and an exciting West Ham United attack can still have the skills to open them up enough time to force the home keeper to make three saves.

Southampton goalkeepers average 4.3 saves per match and it might be a while before that average reduces. It's likely that whoever is in the Southampton goal will be needed to make at least 3 saves here.

📂 Southampton v West Ham Cheat Sheet

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💻 Southampton v West Ham Form and Tactics

Southampton are expected to employ a different style under Ivan Juric, he is known for being a defensive minded coach so we can expect them to be tough to beat. West Ham will have the majority of the ball and will look to create the chances to win the game. 

Southampton go into the match with the 8th highest possession tally in the Premier League this season, West Ham are 4 places further back. West Ham are the 4th worst in the league for xGA, while Southampton are the worst in that category, although that might change under their new manager. 

West Ham are 5th in the fouls conceded category while Southampton are 7th, so we might get a stop-start contest here. Discipline has been an issue for these two teams this season, Southampton have the most red cards in the league while West Ham are 4th in these rankings.

No team has picked up more bookings than Southampton while West Ham have received the 5th most in the division.

🏁 Southampton v West Ham Ref Watch

• Referee: Lewis Smith
• He has taken charge of 23 games this season, issuing 85 yellow cards and 3 red cards.
• He has refereed 3 previous Premier League games this term, dishing out 11 yellows and a red in total
• He has given 0.67 penalties per match in the Premier League

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* I recommend waiting for confirmed team line-ups before placing any bets.

* All odds displayed correct at the time of publishing.