Three matches at St. Mary’s. Three various competitions. Three clean sheets for Southampton and three wins. This weekend, the Saints are hoping to extend their win streak away at West Ham.
Last weekend, the Saints defeated Swansea 1-0 at home. Charlie Austin found the back of the net after coming on as a sub for Shane Long. In the EFL Cup against Crystal Palace midweek, Austin netted again from the spot, bringing his tally to four goals in his last three games in all competitions. As opposed to how they looked in August, the Saints looked much more settled as a cohesive unit now. Manager Claude Puel has been rotating the squad and the team is looking quite deep.
At the Hawthorns last week, West Ham lost to West Brom 4-2 away. West Ham conceded four goals for the second consecutive game, having done so again Watford the week prior. Michail Antonio however has looked quite strong for the Hammers, as he scored his fifth league goal of the season.
As the Saints look to continue pushing forward and the Hammers seemingly continue to slide, Southampton should have the upper hand going into this fixture. The key match up for this fixture will be Charlie Austin vs. Angelo Ogbonna.
Charlie Austin is flying right now. He is firing on all cylinders now and looks more in form then when I said he looked in form last week! As mentioned earlier, he scored again midweek and looked quite strong off the ball. With West Ham conceding goals easily these past few games, Austin will hope to bag a goal or two against the Hammers and to continue his streak of good form.
The Italian defender Angelo Ogbonna was all over the place last weekend and was not on top of his game. He and the whole West Ham back line will be hoping to limit their mistakes against the hot Saints this weekend or else they may concede a handful of goals once again.
Last season, Southampton beat West Ham 1-0 at home in February after losing in December 2-1 away.
Saints boss Puel was thrilled with the players’ spirit and energy this past week and he feels confident with the squad’s capability of fighting in all competitions.
"“It’s very interesting for the players and this squad. If my players keep this very good attitude and spirit, and we can move the team around to keep our energy, this bodes very well for the future… Now we must focus and go to play West Ham, which is a very difficult game,” Puel said."
Next: Southampton Slay Swans 1-0 at St. Mary’s, Claim First League Win
Match Info:
Date: Sunday, September 25
Kick Off: 11:00 a.m. ET
Location: London, England
Stadium: Olympic/London Stadium
TV Info: NBCSN
Live Stream: NBC Sports