PREVIEW: West Ham v Southampton

Unavailable: West Ham – Reid, Moses, Payet, Sakho

                       Southampton – Forster, Gardoş, Rodriguez, Soares, Pellè

Southampton may have only had less than 42 hours to prepare to face a third London opponent in ten days, however if their last outing does not give them renewed vigour; nothing will. Under the superfluous LED lights at St Mary’s, Saints roared back with a fine performance against the team who many predict will lift the Premier League trophy in May – a Southampton side who were lacking any genuine confidence put Arsenal to the sword with supreme ease. Ronald Koeman elected to abandon his aesthetically beautiful approach with an “up and at ‘em” 4-4-2, and it paid dividends. The most satisfying element of the win for the Dutchman will have been the simplicity of the masterplan which left the Gunners players scrambling around the pitch, and Arsène Wenger calling foul play on the sideline.

Koeman instructed Steven Davis and James Ward-Prowse to occupy the wide positions to give Saints added backbone, which may have seemed bizarre when the teamsheets were announced with an hour until kick-off, yet the home side were well drilled to bully their opponents. Shane Long led the line effectively, and the team found a spark from that goal by Cuco Martina – a strike which may well have curled into the River Itchen had it not collided with Petr Čech’s net. Monday’s encounter with West Ham offers an immediate chance to feed off that excitement and push forward after a drab beginning to the winter period. Koeman would ideally like to make changes, however Graziano Pellè and Cédric Soares have both been ruled out once more. Therefore, Long will have to display his remarkable work rate through the middle again. Martina should also be handed an opportunity to show his merits at right-back where he put in a solid shift on Saturday night beyond that sizzling strike.

While Saints may consider themselves to be unlucky to have picked up a few injuries, West Ham have undoubtedly been the victim of misfortune in recent times. Although they only have four players who are definitely out of Monday’s game, several key players such as James Tomkins and Manuel Lanzini will face late fitness tests. Clearly, those who have been absent have affected the Hammers’ progression, as after an excellent start, Slaven Bilić’s team have dropped down the table. The Croatian has altered his team’s play impressively since the departure of Sam Allardyce through the introduction of adroit players such as Dimitri Payet and Lanzini, while also being mindful of the other talented performers who were already in East London. Although Payet will not be present on Monday, Southampton will have to be wily to deny the Hammers in the last meeting between these clubs at the Boleyn Ground.

Due to the unpredictable nature of line-ups for Monday’s match given the short turnaround period from Boxing Day fixtures, there will be no ‘Key Battles’ section for this match.