SAINTS travel to West Ham’s London Stadium for the 2021 round of Boxing Day fixtures.
They do so off the back of a 10 day rest after their meeting with Brentford at St Mary’s last Saturday was postponed due to the visitors having an outbreak of COVID-19.
In that time, Saints have seen returns to training for a number of squad members including Fraser Forster, Stuart Armstrong, Adam Armstrong and Che Adams.
However, how many of those are sharp enough to be selected from the start remains to be seen.
Read more
- Hasenhuttl reveals Caballero could be set for longer stay at Saints
- Hasenhuttl believes 'it was the right step' for Broja to take his chance at Saints
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Saints have won only four of the 19 Premier League visits to the Hammers. Manager David Moyes has lost just twice in his 17 Premier League meetings with Saints.
West Ham have won more matches (19) and more home fixtures (14) against Saints in the Premier League than they have versus any other side in the competition.
Merry Christmas, Saints fans.
Ralph Hasenhuttl will be keen to get a rare result at West Ham that would end their run of six without victory in the Premier League, dating back to the start of November.
Goalkeeper
Although Fraser Forster is back in training with Saints, Willy Caballero is likely to retain his starting position in goal while Alex McCarthy continues his recover having impressed Hasenhuttl enough to warrant a new contract.
The 40-year-old’s short-term deal expires at the start of January but the boss said: ““It would make sense definitely. We have this in our mind, to extend his contract.
“I am sure he can help us longer term. It also shows on the pitch that he can help us.”
Defenders
Tino Livramento will have benefitted massively from the unexpected week-and-a-half break, and could come back firing on all cylinders after looking a bit tired and battered in his debut senior season.
Jack Stephens is now at full fitness and could make another start alongside top performer Mohammed Salisu, while Kyle Walker-Peters will retain his place at left-back.
Midfielders
The usual midfield of captain James Ward-Prowse and Oriol Romeu will start together once more, while the ‘10s’ often see the brunt of the rotation. Stuart Armstrong is back in training but will Hasenhuttl risk him straight away given his injury status this season?
It could see Nathan Tella and Nathan Redmond both keep their places from Crsytal Palace, although Hasenhuttl does tend to prefer at least one of them in a more attacking role and may find Tella to be too lightweight to deal with West Ham’s attack.
Attack
Armando Broja is Saints’ top scorer in the Premier League this season and has four goals in six starts – he will definitely be in from the off. Che Adams and Adam Armstrong are both back in training after injury absences, but I’m going to select the latter based purely on the fact that the official Twitter have promoted his return but not Adams.
👀 @AdamArma9 pic.twitter.com/ZVHd9oK9Ua
— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) December 23, 2021
Full predicted team
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