PREVIEW: Southampton v West Ham

Unavailable: Southampton – Gardoş, Rodriguez

                       West Ham – Jenkinson, Lanzini, Sakho

Nearly four years ago, Southampton visited Upton Park as they slogged it out with their hosts for a spot in the Premier League with Jos Hooiveld scoring to cement his status as a cult hero, prior to being scapegoated by many Saints fans for his own-goal scoring spree in the Premier League.

This Saturday, it will be a slightly more lucrative, but somewhat less-pressured slog for the prize the two clubs are aiming for – Europa League football. Ironically, both sides spurned the reward of a European group stage berth in qualifying during the formative stages of this campaign. While West Ham showed a genuine lack of concern with Europe’s secondary competition in a long drawn qualification process, Saints were in it for the long haul after a hard earned seventh place finish. A longer stay in the Europa League next season would benefit the progression of both clubs – ideally without the pernickety ordeal of qualification. Games against teams such as Midtjylland and Astra Giurgiu are not as uncomplicated as they would first appear.

Nevertheless, the path to that prize still stretches out far into distance for both sides. It was only this time last month that Saints were in danger of slipping into the joys of a scrap to avoid the drop that would be so harmful from a financial viewpoint. The dogged nature displayed on Tuesday night mixed with the free-flowing offensive play in the Watford match has allowed Ronald Koeman’s men to ease themselves up into the top half of the table. There was also a sense of cohesion about the team that handed Saints the platform to take a point away from the Emirates.

This was borne from a defence that was shifted into a back four, but did not panic, even when under great strain in the second half. In front of them stood Oriol Romeu and Victor Wanyama. The Spaniard has warranted more playing time due to some excellent displays in the engine room, but in the past has always looked weakest when paired with the Kenya captain. In the past, the two players had always dropped far too deep onto the toes of José Fonte and Virgil van Dijk, leaving a vast amount of space in front of them for the opposition to attack. Yet the Gunners struggled to break through the defensive midfield duo, and they gave real balance to the team. On Saturday, Koeman will have to make the call as to whether Jordy Clasie should be given the nod in a game where his team are likely to have a far greater portion of the possession than they enjoyed against Arsenal.

The midfield battle will be key as that is what provides structure for the Hammers. Cheikhou Kouyaté and Alex Song combine well to safeguard the West Ham backline, therefore intricate passing, and intelligent moves from the Saints midfield will be necessary to unlock that door. A large part of that is dependent on the return of Steven Davis, who has arguably been Southampton’s player of the season. The Northern Ireland captain is not gifted with pace, but he manages to ghost into the No 10 slot, and work in tight areas. It would be surprising if it wasn’t a case of tight margins under the lights at St Mary’s on Saturday.

Key Battles

Clasie v Noble: These two playmakers should go up against each other on Saturday. Mark Noble is in fact one of the most underrated central midfielders in the Premier League, and has the ability to pick a pass to carve through defences in a heartbeat. Clasie will have to strangulate the Hammers captain’s hold on the game, and stick to him, while successfully linking the play from defence to attack down the other end. The Dutchman has impressed of late, and was unlucky to be dropped against Arsenal. Slowly but surely, he has acclimatised to the hustle and bustle of the Premier League, and could stamp his mark in the closing months of the season.

Bertrand v Antonio: Saints fans need no introduction to Michail Antonio. During a loan spell in 2009/10, he was a real favourite with his direct, physical approach play. Many were disappointed not to see him sign at the end of that season, but then he was subsequently written off by many as a player who would linger in the Championship for the rest of his career. Oh how they were wrong. The winger has adopted the same style of play in the Premier League this season, winning many plaudits with some scintillating displays. Ryan Bertrand has been back to his best lately – either as a left centre-back or at left-back – but the sheer pace and power of Antonio will have to be monitored carefully by the England international.

Possible Line-ups

Southampton: Forster – Soares, Van Dijk, Fonte (C), Bertrand, Targett – Wanyama, Clasie, S. Davis – Mané, Austin

Stekelenburg, Yoshida, Long, Tadić, Romeu, Ward-Prowse, Pellè

West Ham: Adrián – Tomkins, Collins, Reid, Cresswell – Song, Kouyaté, Noble (C) – Antonio, Valencia, Payet

Randolph, Carroll, Obiang, Moses, Ogbonna, Byram, Jelavić