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West Ham United will be hoping their recent revival continues when they welcome another form side, Southampton, to Upton Park.
The Hammers were languishing in the drop zone a few weeks ago, but are now pushing for a standing inside the top half.
Three straight wins, and four successive clean sheets, have fired them up the Premier League table, and another positive result on Saturday will take them into the top 10.
Chamberlin on W Ham v Saints
West Ham
Southampton
The Hammers were languishing in the drop zone a few weeks ago, but are now pushing for a standing inside the top half.
Three straight wins, and four successive clean sheets, have fired them up the Premier League table, and another positive result on Saturday will take them into the top 10.
Chamberlin on W Ham v Saints
Sam Allardyce's patience and persistence has been rewarded, with West Ham confident that things would click once key men returned from injury and stability was returned to the camp.
Saints, though, will head to the capital buoyed by their own top-flight progress.
They may have come unstuck in FA Cup competition last time out, but are unbeaten in the league since New Year's Day.
Six games without a stumble have cemented them in eighth place, and a late run for Europe could still be on the cards.
Paul Merson's prediction
I don't know what Southampton were doing in the FA Cup last week, I really don't. They are the only team in the country (apart from maybe Newcastle), who aren't going to get into Europe or get relegated, so they could have thrown everything at the FA Cup. So why did they rest players against Sunderland? Is the manager on a bonus for finishing as high as possible up the league? It's beyond me - and I bet the players are wondering what's going on.
However, I think they will win this game because they can beat anyone on their day. West Ham are in form and have won some big games lately, but I think they might just take their eye off the ball.
PAUL PREDICTS: 1-2
West HamLast 6
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West Ham are expected to be unchanged, as they stick with a winning formula.
Striker Andy Carroll completes his three-match suspension and full-back Joey O'Brien remains sidelined by a shoulder injury.
Ricardo Vaz Te is the only other notable absentee for the Hammers, with his brief return to the first team fold having been ended by a hamstring complaint.
SouthamptonLast 6
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Southampton will be without defender Jos Hooiveld this weekend.
The Dutchman suffered an eye injury in training on Wednesday and has been ruled out for the encounter at Upton Park.
Croatian central defender Dejan Lovren and Uruguay midfielder Gaston Ramirez are expected to see some action having recovered from their respective ankle ligament injuries that kept them sidelined for a month.
Last edited by Admin on Sat 22 Feb 2014, 2:18 pm; edited 3 times in total
