Predicted Southampton line-up as they prepare to face West Ham

Southampton head back to home turf on Saturday and host West Ham in the next round of Premier League fixtures.

Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side will be hoping to build some more momentum after a win and two draws in their last three games across all competitions, but they will know that there is a tough task facing them in the form of the Hammers.

David Moyes’ team continue to impress and have earned themselves a crack at the Europa League after a superb campaign last time out. They claimed a 3-0 win over Saints in London and a 0-0 draw at St Mary’s in 2020/21.

Ahead of the game, Saints boss Ralph Hasenhuttl revealed some intriguing team news after the recent international games played in by some of his players.

Could Southampton boss Hasenhuttl make changes to face West Ham?

Whilst confirming that Armando Broja, Che Adams, Jan Bednarek and Mohamed Elyounoussi are due back to train with Saints on Thursday, Ralph Hasenhuttl gave an update on Will Smallbone.

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The 21-year-old will not be available for a while longer but is ready to take part in first-team training after recovery from his ACL injury sustained back in January.

Stuart Armstrong and Theo Walcott are set to also miss out against West Ham as they recover from a calf problem and an unspecified minor injury respectively. This will lead to an opportunity for Nathan Tella, Nathan Redmond or Moussa Djenepo to deputise in the number 10 positions.

Moi Elyounoussi could be in contention but his recent travelling with Norway will surely be taken into account. Armando Broja will be the same, but both players were in goalscoring form for their countries.

Shane Long will also not be available to take a place in the matchday squad after testing positive for Covid-19 whilst away with the Republic of Ireland.

Tino Livramento is likely to be a starter again given that he only played around seven minutes of football for England Under-21s after his first call-up at that level.

Predicted Saints line-up

Alex McCarthy; Tino Livramento, Jack Stephens, Mohammed Salisu, Romain Perraud; James Ward-Prowse, Oriol Romeu; Nathan Tella, Nathan Redmond; Che Adams, Adam Armstrong