Two of the pre-season promotion favourites lock horns at the London Stadium on Saturday afternoon, when West Ham United and Southampton will both be looking for a statement Championship victory.

The Hammers defeated league-leading Swansea City on their own patch last weekend, whilst the Saints' defensive improvements continued in an admittedly frustrating home draw with Bolton Wanderers.

Match preview

Following a three-game winless run (D2 L1) across Championship and EFL Cup duties, West Ham have recently recorded back-to-back away victories, beating Lincoln City and Swansea by an aggregate scoreline of 7-0.

Six of those strikes arrived at Sincil Bank against the nine-men Imps on October 14, with the Hammers made to work much harder for maximum points in South Wales, where Divine Mukasa's third goal of the season secured the win at the expense of the Swans.

Aiming to post their seventh second-tier success of the campaign this weekend, Nuno Espirito Santo's troops are currently occupying second spot in the Championship rankings, one point behind pace-setters Swansea.

The East Londoners extended their unbeaten run in the league to nine matches (W6 D3) with that narrow victory last weekend, with West Ham's two competitive defeats in 2026-27 both arriving at the London Stadium.

In fact, since the 6-0 demolition of Wrexham on September 11, the Hammers have struggled in front of their own supporters, losing 3-2 to Fulham in the EFL Cup before a 1-1 draw with Queens Park Rangers in the Championship on October 9.

Despite giving the entire Championship a four-point head start in the race for the Premier League, Southampton are undoubtedly one of the key faces in the promotion hunt alongside Saturday's hosts West Ham.

Only the Hammers (30) and Middlesbrough (22) have scored more goals than the Saints' 21 goals in the second tier so far, and Tonda Eckert's men have recently enjoyed an upturn at the other end of the pitch, keeping three consecutive clean sheets.

The latest of those shutouts came against newly-promoted Bolton at St Mary's Stadium last time out, when Southampton's 100% home league record was ruined by a goalless draw on the South Coast.

The Saints would be fourth in the Championship table without their points deduction, however, this weekend's visitors remain well within the promotion conversation, just five points behind second-placed West Ham.

Southampton are winless across their past five competitive clashes (D2 L3) with the Hammers, who posted a 4-1 victory at St Mary's in the second round of the EFL Cup earlier this campaign.  

West Ham United Championship form:

West Ham United form (all competitions):

Southampton Championship form:

Team News

West Ham could be without the services of attacker Keiber Lamadrid, who has not featured since September 1 due to an injury setback.

Pablo and Taty Castellanos are battling for the spot at the top of the Hammers' attack, with Jarrod Bowen a shoo-in on the right flank.

Konstantinos Mavropanos is the highest-scoring defender in the Championship with five goals to his name already, and the Greek will partner Max Kilman at centre-back once again.

Forced off just before half time during the Bolton stalemate, Southampton striker Cyle Larin is a doubt for the trip to the London Stadium.

The absence of the seven-goal Canadian would most likely result in Lewis Dobbin or former West Ham player Divin Mubama earning a start.

West Ham United possible starting lineup:

Hermansen; Veltman, Mavropanos, Kilman, Morato; Mukasa, Engels, Kante, Bowen, Solomon, Castellanos

Southampton possible starting lineup:

Peretz; Bree, Stephens, Schlotterbeck, Wellington; Ward-Prowse, Bragg, Azaz, Scienza, Matsuki; Dobbin

We say: West Ham United 2-1 Southampton

West Ham are back at the London Stadium and full of confidence after back-to-back away victories.

Southampton's defensive improvements could come in handy, however, we are expecting a narrow home success this weekend.

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