Southampton travel to Stratford on Saturday to face an in-form West Ham side aiming for a 10-game unbeaten run.
West Ham come into the game off an impressive 1-0 away win at league leaders, thanks to a first-half strike from Divine Mukasa. As for the Saints, they’re unbeaten in three after last weekend’s 0-0 draw against Bolton, where they were controversially denied a penalty after Leo Scienza’s cross seemingly hit Ruben Rodrigues’ arm.
Going into the game, the visitors sit eighth on 17 points. However, if they hadn’t been deducted four points for breaching EFL rules at the beginning of the season, they would be in fourth. Meanwhile, West Ham’s result last Saturday puts them second in the table and makes them the highest-scoring side across England’s top four divisions, with 30 goals in their opening 11 Championship fixtures.
These two sides have already met this season, in the second round of the Carabao Cup in late August. Southampton went into the game as favourites after West Ham’s poor start to the season. The Hammers fielded a very youthful side but pulled off a shock result, winning 4-1, with 19-year-old Josh Ajala scoring a brace on his full professional debut.
The last league meeting was in April 2025 in the Premier League. Southampton’s Lesley Ugochukwu scored a 93rd-minute equaliser after Jarrod Bowen gave the Hammers the lead early in the second half.
Ahead of the game, West Ham head coach Nuno Espírito Santo spoke to the press. “This week has been good, the boys have been working really hard, and we’re ready to compete. I’m glad we are scoring lots of goals, and if we continue and end up breaking records, it will be a fantastic thing for us, but we are focusing on competing and trying to get the right results. In terms of the number of goals, if we score more than our opponent, then we are happy.”
The Hammers don’t have any new known injuries, with Keiber Lamadrid the only doubt after he missed the last few game weeks with a knee injury.
Saints boss Tonda Eckert also spoke to the press on Friday, commenting on whether two key individuals will be involved in the capital.
“Flynn [Downes] is getting better day after day; we’ll assess today, and he’s doing everything to be involved tomorrow. Cyle’s [Larin] injury was part of the hamstring towards the tendon, but it’s the same for him that he’s trying everything to make it tomorrow.”
James Ward-Prowse is set to face West Ham for the first time since leaving the Hammers in the summer after spending three seasons with the club.
A win for West Ham will extend their unbeaten league run to 10 games and add more pressure on Swansea. As for Southampton, a win will close the gap on the Hammers and push them closer to the summit of the table.
The match is scheduled to kick off at 3pm BST on Saturday, October 24th.