- Saints, Irons have split last six meetings
- 15 combined goals in last 4 head-to-head
- West Ham leads all-time 41W-30D-34L
Two teams who watched the Boxing Day festivities on television now take center stage at St. Mary’s when Southampton hosts West Ham United on Thursday (Watch live at 2:45 p.m. ET on NBCSN and online via NBCSports.com).
Manuel Pellegrini’s Irons are coming off a disappointing end to their four-match win streak, and probably deserved better than the weekend’s loss to Watford.
Meanwhile, Southampton has looked much better under new manager Ralph Hasenhuttl and can climb another spot by winning at home on Thursday.
West Ham can rise as high as ninth with a win, while Saints can leapfrog Newcastle into 15th.
What they’re saying
Saints boss Hasenhuttl on the refining the dynamic: “We had a very good video session after Huddersfield and looked at a few things from the game. There were a lot of good moments in our game, but also a few where we can defend better. You always have to improve your game and your automatisms and I think that was important to look at.”
West Ham’s in-form Robert Snodgrass on Boxing Day: “My wife and my kids are used to it now and we will spend the time we get together smiling, opening presents and playing games like most families, and I’m certainly not the only person who had to go to work on Christmas Day. As a player, you want to play games, you want to kick on and you want to push forward. The way we’re playing this season, it’s a building process and we want to keep on creating chances and most weeks we’ll take them and get more points.”
Prediction
Goals for both sets of supporters, and a 1-1 draw at St. Mary’s.
