Southampton v West Ham United
Premier League, St Mary's Stadium, Sunday 16 October 2022, 2pm BST
West Ham United head to Hampshire to take on Southampton on Sunday seeking a fifth straight victory in all competitions.
The Irons have won twice in the Premier League, defeating Wolverhampton Wanderers (2-0) and Fulham (3-1) at London Stadium, and twice in UEFA Europa Conference League Group B against RSC Anderlecht (1-0 in Brussels and 2-1 in Stratford).
David Moyes' side kick-off the matchweek 13th in the table with ten points from nine games played, albeit the Irons are below tenth-place Liverpool only on goal difference. Should Moyes' men win and results elsewhere go our way, we could end the weekend as high as eighth.
Hosts Southampton are seeking to re-establish themselves as a top-half Premier League club after finishing above 15th and reaching 50 points just once in the previous four seasons, having finished in the top eight in each of the four before that.
The Saints are 17th in the table going into the weekend, with seven points from nine games played. Ralph Hasenhüttl's side have lost their last four Premier League matches, scoring one goal, and not won since defeating Chelsea 2-1 at St Mary's on 30 August.
Tickets…
The first 90% of our allocation of 3,242 Standard Tickets sold out to Bondholders and Season Ticket Holders with 20+ Loyalty Points. The remaining 10% (324 tickets) were then made available to Season Ticket Holders who had yet to purchase for this game by a ballot process. The ballot closed at 12pm on Wednesday 21 September.
How to Follow...
Sunday's game will NOT be broadcast live in the UK, but will be shown across the world by the Premier League's international broadcast partners. You can listen to coverage in the UK on BBC 5 Live Sports Extra, BBC Radio London 94.9FM and on whufc.com and our official app.
You can also follow the action via our live blog on whufc.com and our app and across our social media channels. We will also have highlights and exclusive reaction for you after the final whistle.
Travel...
As is the case with so many football stadia these days, it is recommended that supporters take public transport, rather than driving to the game.
However, at time of writing South Western Railway were planning engineering works on Sunday 16 October, meaning services from London Waterloo will terminate at Eastleigh. From there, it is a 20-minute replacement-bus ride to Southampton Central. From there, it’s a signposted 15-minute walk to St Mary’s. Services leave Waterloo at 09.35, 10.15, 10.35, 10.54 and 11.35.
If you’d rather, there is a shuttle bus from Central station to St Mary’s (and back again after the game) which costs £2 each way.
Heading home, buses depart Southampton Central for Eastleigh at 16.34, 16.59 and 17.34.
Visit the National Rail website for times and tickets.
If you do opt to drive to the game, there is no parking in the streets surrounding St Mary’s, so you should instead head for one of the following City Council car parks: Bedford Place (postcode SO15 2QW), Grosvenor Square (SO15 2GR), West Park Road (SO15 1AP), Marlands (SO15 1BA), Eastgate (SO14 3HH).
Click here to read our Over Land and Sea travelling supporters guide.
Team News...
David Moyes will assess the fitness of Angelo Ogbonna (hamstring) and Craig Dawson (dead leg) after both were replaced during Thursday's UECL Group B win over Anderlecht.
Michail Antonio and Kurt Zouma have been dealing with flu-like illnesses and are also hoping to be fit for the trip to St Mary's Stadium.
Maxwel Cornet (calf) was hurt during the 2-0 Premier League win over Wolves on 1 October and has not played since, while Nayef Aguerd continues to build up his fitness ahead of his return from a pre-season ankle injury suffered at Rangers in July.
For Southampton, full-back Valentino Livramento (knee) is definitely out, while Belgium U21 international midfielder Roméo Lavia (thigh) is also expected to be missing.
Opposition...
Southampton FC was formed as St. Mary’s Y.M.A. by members of the Young Men’s Association at St Mary’s Church, just east of the city centre, in 1885.
The new football club initially played matches on Southampton Common, a few miles to the north, while also hosting bigger games at Hampshire’s County Cricket Ground or the Antelope Cricket Ground in St Mary’s.
The club changed its name to St Mary’s FC in 1887, then Southampton St Mary’s on joining the Southern League in 1894, then finally to Southampton FC on winning the title for the first time and becoming a limited company in 1897.
Southampton FC went on to win the Southern League on five more occasions, while also moving into a permanent home in 1898 at The Dell, where they would remain for 103 years before moving to the purpose-built St Mary’s Stadium in 2001.
Nicknamed ‘The Saints’ in recognition of their ecclesiastical origins, Southampton joined the newly formed Football League Division Three in 1920, won promotion in their first season and remained in Division Two until being relegated in 1953.
After being promoted in 1960 and again in 1966 – largely thanks to the prolific goalscoring exploits of Scottish forward George O’Brien and local lad and future England international Martin Chivers – Southampton enjoyed their first eight-season stay in the top-flight.
The 1970s saw the Saints relegated again, but it was during this four-year spell in the Second Division that the club won its first and, so far, only major trophy, shocking Manchester United to win the FA Cup in 1976.
That success was achieved under the management of long-serving manager Lawrie McMenemy, who remained in charge for 13 seasons between 1973-85 and later returned for a stint as Director of Football in the 1990s.
By then, Southampton had become founder members of the Premier League in 1992, with the club’s famed Academy producing a succession of future stars including Alan Shearer and Matthew Le Tissier.
That tradition has continued over the past few decades, with the likes of Theo Walcott, Gareth Bale, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Adam Lallana and current captain James Ward-Prowse all coming through the club’s ranks.
Southampton did drop out of the Premier League in 2005 and even down to League One in 2009, but they bounced back with successive promotions in 2011 and 2012 and have been a Premier League club ever since.
Indeed, five years ago, Southampton edged out West Ham United for sixth place in the Premier League and qualified directly to the UEFA Europa League group stage.
It continued a period of upward progression for the Saints, who had been promoted automatically ahead of the Hammers in 2012, then finished eighth, seventh, sixth and eighth in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 respectively.
Since then, however, Southampton’s momentum has slowed, with the Hampshire club finishing in the bottom half of the Premier League in each of the previous five seasons.
Previous Meetings...
West Ham United's eight-match unbeaten run against the Saints in the Premier League came to an end on Boxing Day last season, when Southampton edged the Hammers 3-2 at London Stadium. Prior to that, the Irons had won six out of eight, with two draws.
The Premier League meeting at St Mary's last September ended goalless, but West Ham were beaten 3-1 in Hampshire in an FA Cup fifth-round tie in March this year.
Former Saints loanee Michail Antonio, who won the EFL Trophy with Southampton in 2010, scored the first of his Club-record 58 Premier League goals for West Ham in a 2-1 home win over his former club at the Boleyn Ground in December 2015.
The Hammers' biggest Premier League win over Southampton was a 4-1 victory at the Boleyn on 20 October 2012.
West Ham also lead the all-time stats against the Saints, winning 19 of the 40 Premier League meetings between the two, with 12 wins for Southampton and nine draws.
In all competitions, the Hammers' record win over the Saints came back in October 1913, when the east Londoners were 5-1 Southern Division victors at the Boleyn Ground.
Match Officials...
Referee: Peter Bankes
Assistants: Eddie Smart & Nick Greenhalgh
Fourth official: Tony Harrington
VAR: Simon Hooper
Assistant VAR: Adrian Holmes
Sunday's game will be refereed by Peter Bankes, who is in his fourth season as a Select Group 1 official.
The 40-year-old will be taking charge of his second West Ham United fixture of the season, having been the man in the middle for the 1-1 home Premier League draw with Tottenham Hotspur on 31 August.
He has had a busy season, refereeing two UECL qualifiers in Denmark and Greece, four Premier League games, two EFL Championship fixtures and one EFL Cup tie.
In his career, Bankes has refereed West Ham on four occasions previously, three in the Premier League and an EFL Cup defeat at Leicester City in September 2015.
