West Ham look to seal a top six finish as they welcome Southampton to the London Stadium on the final day of 2020-21 Premier League season.
All West Ham require is just one point to seal sixth and Europa League qualification, whereas Southampton can finish 12th with a win if Wolves and Crystal Palace lose elsewhere.
Team News
Lukasz Fabianski is ruled out for West Ham with a knee injury suffered in warm-up for Wednesday’s comeback win at West Brom.
Arthur Masuaku (knee) and Manuel Lanzini (groin) are unlikely to feature unless fully match fit.
Southampton could welcome Oriol Romeu back from an ankle injury which has kept the midfielder out in recent weeks.
Che Adams (groin), Ryan Bertrand (calf) and Will Smallbone (knee) remain absent.
Stat Attack
- West Ham have lost just one of their last eight meetings against Southampton (W6, D1, L1).
- Southampton have won just two of their last six trips to West Ham (W2, L4).
- Ralph Hasenhuttl’s Saints have conceded three goals in each of their last three trips to West Ham.
- David Moyes’ Hammers have failed to score in three of their five home defeats this season, losing two of those games by 1-0 results against Chelsea and Everton respectively.
- Southampton have conceded 12 goals in their last four away league matches (L4).
Prediction
Needing just one point to secure sixth and Europa League qualification in a remarkable turnaround from last season, West Ham have this in their hands but they have to improve defensively which has often been their Achilles heel since mid-March.
In fact if there is one game which is evident in their defensive inconsistency, it has to be Wednesday’s comeback win at West Brom after conceding first from an own goal before showing desire to turn the game around.
Southampton meanwhile should feel hard done by with their midweek loss to Leeds because they were excellent in attack, yet a mixture of poor end product and late lapses in focus were their undoing.
I therefore am expecting an entertaining contest between two teams who have the right quality in attack yet are often defensively poor, so a score draw would be a fitting result here all round.
Prediction: West Ham 1-1 Southampton
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