Southampton will welcome West Ham United to the south coast in the next round of the FA Cup. Victory for the Saints will see them qualify for back-to-back quarter-finals in the competition for the first time in over 115 years.
Standing in their way is David Moyes’s West Ham outfit. This season, the Hammers have seemed like world-beaters at different times. They’ve spent a lot of time occupying a top-four spot this season. An unlikely Champions League place seemed like a distinct possibility. Unfortunately for the Irons, a poor run of form combined with a devastating injury crisis has put their top-four dreams out of reach.
Not only have the Hammers had a sharp drop-off in form, but the Saints have surged up the table and are on an incredible run at the moment. The Saints have an outside chance of qualifying for European football if they continue the way they are going.
The two sides’ contrasting form makes this such an intriguing battle.
Southampton vs West Ham FYIs
When is it? Wednesday, 2 March 2022 7.30 PM
Where is it? St. Mary’s, Southampton
Who’s in form? Southampton (DWLWL) West Ham (LLWLW)
What are the odds? Southampton (+135) West Ham (-205) Draw (+245)
Premier League Podcast: Spotify Apple Podcasts
Team News: go here
Here’s how I see the Hammers lining up in the FA Cup as they attempt to book a quarter-final place.
Lukasz Fabianski has a winner’s medal in this competition from his days in North London representing Arsenal. Despite this, I expect the Hammers number one to step aside to give talented Frenchman Alphonse Areola a starting berth between the posts.
Ben Johnson will probably start at right-back. The youngster has been a revelation this season at full-back. Aaron Cresswell will start at left-back. IN the center of defense, Craig Dawson will start, that’s for sure. Who will partner with him?
Well, it will either be Issa Diop or world-famous animal abuser Kurt Zouma. I am going to go with Issa Diop in this one.
Given the opportunity to qualify for a quarter-final, I am going to predict that we will see the Hammers go full strength in midfield. That means Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek start in a deep midfield pivot, with Pablo Fornals starting as the most attacking of the midfield three.
In attack, I think we will see the return of the pre-AFCON front three. That means that Michail Antonio will play centrally with Jarrod Bowen on the right-wing.
Said Benrahma returns on the left wing to complete the attacking triumvirate.
I like both sides. And I think if they played this match three months ago, I would not have given Southampton a snowball’s chance in hell. But it’s not being played three months ago, it’s being played now and Southampton has been in some tremendous form recently.
Given that, I am predicting a win for the Saints 3-1.
Stuart Kavanagh is an up-and-coming sports journalist from Melbourne, Australia. Along with being the owner of the sports and entertainment website thepyrrhic.com, he is also the co-host of the ‘After Extra Time’ podcast. Football mad, he is always down for debate and discussion at @stueyissickofit on Twitter.