West Ham is hosting Southampton at London Stadium on Boxing Day in round 19 of the English Premier League. West Ham has cooled off a lot lately, they have only 1 win in their last 7 games, and they are out of the top 4 in the standings. Southampton is not doing great right now, they haven’t won any of their last 6 games, and they are close to the relegation zone.
West Ham has lost 3 of their last 4 games, but only 1 was in the EPL. Earlier this week, West Ham was playing against Tottenham in the EFL Cup, and they have lost that game 2-1. West Ham has also secured their Europa League spot in the next stage, but now they need to shift focus to the EPL. The good news for West Ham is they have the weaker opponents on their schedule after Christmas, and I think they can count on some points in their next 3 games. With 28 points, West Ham is now in 5th place, they have scored 28 goals, while their defense is decent with 21 conceded goals. Antonio is the leading goalscorer for West Ham with 6 goals, but his form has been declining as well. Bowen has added 4 assists. Ogbonna, Cresswell, Zouma, and Fredericks are all injured. West Ham has a lot of talent, they have a great coach, and every team goes through what they are going through right now, and I think they will bounce back soon.
Southampton is struggling, and whenever they manage to score 2 or more goals, they can’t hold off their opponents and they conceded an equal number or more goals. In their last 6 games, Southampton has conceded 14 goals while scoring only 6 goals, and they haven’t won any of those games. With 17 points, Southampton is now in 15th place, which is only 6 points above the relegation zone, but I think Southampton is good enough to secure their EPL spot for next season. Southampton is averaging less than 1 scored goal per game so far this season, but they are conceding 1.5 per game, and it’s cost them a lot of points already. There are a few injuries in Southampton, and they will certainly miss those players. Broja is now the leading goalscorer for Southampton with 4 goals. I think Southampton’s defense is on par with their quality, but they can definitely score more goals, and I think they will need to if they want to avoid the pressure of staying in the league.
The trends are on West Ham’s side in this matchup, and they are the better team here. I know West Ham was playing in the EFL Cup earlier this week, but they were resting some players, and I think they will get a win here.