West Ham v Southampton: More unrest at the London Stadium

West Ham and Southampton meet at the London Stadium on Saturday afternoon and Paul Robinson is expecting another good away day for the Saints.

West Ham v Southampton
Saturday February 29, 15:00

Relegation looking like a real possibility for West Ham

Despite putting up a much improved performance at Anfield on Monday, West Ham still slipped to their fifth defeat in seven games, with the other two being draws.

The Hammers head into the weekend in 18th place, level on points with Watford in 19th, but only four points behind Brighton in 15th.

David Moyes will certainly have been targeting this game as one that his team need to win, as their next four see them face Arsenal, Wolves, Spurs and Chelsea.

The former Everton boss has fielded defensive line-ups in their last two matches, but given that they were at Man City and Liverpool, it's easy to understand why. Given the display at Anfield, it will be interesting to see how many changes he makes on Saturday.

Southampton set for a strong finish

The Saints returned to winning ways as they put a little bit of a wobble behind them by beating Aston Villa at St Mary's.

Ralph Hasenhüttl's side are 12th in the table, which they would have absolutely taken just a few short months ago. European football is likely too much of an ask, but they have pretty much secured their top flight status.

Nathan Redmond remains out injured, which while a blow, didn't seem to hinder them against Villa, and Shane Long scored his second goal in three games - which is a bonus as Danny Ings is usually the main man in that regard.

More road success for Saints

Southampton are the marginal favourites to take the three points from the London Stadium as they are trading at around the 2.64 mark on the Betfair Exchange, with the home win at 2.84 and the draw at 3.65.

Before their 4-0 defeat at Anfield in their last away game, the Saints had won four in a row on the road - including victories at Chelsea and Leicester.

West Ham have won just one of their last 10 in front of their own fans - losing six and drawing the other three. It has to be noted though that under Moyes, their home record in the league is played four, won one, drawn two and lost one.

On balance, I have to side with the visitors at the prices. Yes, they are the favourites, but I would have priced them up a bit nearer to the 2.30 mark, so I believe that there is a bit of value at 2.64.

The hosts did play much better at Liverpool on Monday, but they aren't the kind of team who you would have faith in stringing two decent performances together, and Southampton's away record can't be ignored.

Expect goals in this one

The Betfair layers are predicting goals on Saturday afternoon, as Over 2.5 can be backed at 1.81 on the Exchange, with the Under at 2.16.

The stats do back that up as six of West Ham's last eight at home have had at least three goals, although that 75% success rate reduces to 50% under Moyes.

The Saints have an identical record away from home, as six of their last eight have seen the ball in the net on three occasions or more, and only Burnley and Liverpool have kept a clean sheet against them this term.

In terms of a betting strategy, I would rather concentrate my efforts on a Southampton win and not bother splitting my stake with Over 2.5 Goals, however I wouldn't put you off backing a Saints win and both teams to score - which is available to back at odds of 4.50.

Key Opta Stat

Since (and including) a 2-1 win against Watford at the end of November to end an eight-game winless run in the Premier League, Southampton have earned 25 points from their 14 Premier League games (W8 D1 L5). Only the current top two sides Liverpool and Man City have earned more in that time.