West Ham storm back to overcome Southampton

Grady Diangana tries to escape the attention of Matt Targett (Getty)

A superb brace by Felipe Anderson gave West Ham United a 2-1 comeback win at Southampton in a pulsating Premier League match on Thursday.

The result lifted West Ham to ninth in the table on 27 points from 19 games while Southampton stayed 16th on 15 points, three above the relegation zone after suffering their first home defeat in five matches.

The game sprung to life when Southampton forward Nathan Redmond bundled the ball home with his shoulder in the 50th minute after visiting keeper Lukazs Fabianski parried his initial shot and Oriol Romeu's rebound.

In the absence of first-choice strikers Marko Arnautovic and Javier Hernandez, West Ham lacked cutting edge until Brazilian midfielder Anderson turned the match on its head.

Anderson equalised in the 53rd minute with a stinging first-time shot from 20 metres and completed West Ham's comeback in the 57th when he buried the ball into the top right corner from 13 metres to cap a lightning break by the visitors.

Fabianski had kept out a long-range effort by forward Stuart Armstrong at the other end and marshalled his defence superbly in the closing stages as the Saints threw men forward in search of an equaliser.

Reuters

PREVIEW

What time does it start?

Southampton vs West Ham kicks off at 7:45pm (GMT)

Where can I watch it?

The match will be shown live on Sky Sports Premier League from 7:30pm.

Player to watch…

Marko Arnautovic: Pellegrini hinted prior to Thursday's game that star striker Arnautovic could be in line for a return having missed the Hammers last three matches with injury. The Austrian has scored five goals in 13 matches this season, as well as contributing two assists.

Arnautovic has missed the Hammers’ last three matches with injury (Getty)

Form guide…

Southampton: LDLLWW

West Ham: LWWWWL

Odds…

Southampton to win: 6/5

West Ham to win: 12/5

Draw: 5/2

(Odds provided by 888 Sport)

Key Points

• Southampton XI: McCarthy; Valery, Bednarek, Vestergaard, Yoshida, Targett; Lemina, Romeu; Armstrong, Redmond; Ings.
• West Ham XI: Fabianski; Antonio, Diop, Ogbonna, Cresswell; Rice, Obiang; Snodgrass, Diangana, Felipe Anderson; Lucas Perez.

[27 December 2018 18:01 · Lawrence Ostlere]

Welcome along to live coverage of Southampton vs West Ham United, as Ralph Hasenhuttl's reinvigorated Saints take on Manuel Pellegrini's Hammers. Team news and build-up coming shortly.

[27 December 2018 19:04 · Jack Sear]

Southampton team news

Just the one change for Ralph Hasenhuttl's side, as Mario Lemina comes into midfield at the expense of the injured Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.

[27 December 2018 19:10 · Jack Sear]

West Ham team news

Manuel Pellegrini makes five changes to the side that were beaten by Watford last Saturday. Pablo Zabaleta, Fabian Balbuena, Arthur Masuaku, Mark Noble and Javier Hernandez make way, with Angelo Ogbonna, Aaron Cresswell, Pedro Obiang, Grady Diangana and Lucas Perez all coming in.

The Hammers' injury issues mean they have only been able to name six substitutes this evening.

[27 December 2018 19:17 · Jack Sear]

  ↵The halfway point

The end of this match will mark the halfway point of the Premier League season, with all teams having played each other once.

After a tough start to the season for both of these sides, both have been able to accumulate enough points to move them away from the relegation zone.

For Southampton, that upturn in form has been a recent one, with new manager Ralph Hasenhuttl guiding them to consecutive victories in their last two league matches.

Manuel Pellegrini's West Ham side had been on a run of four straight league victories before their loss to Watford last weekend and will be looking to bounce back at St Mary's tonight.

[27 December 2018 19:22 · Jack Sear]

The skippers

Oriol Romeu will captain Southampton this evening in the absence of Ryan Bertrand and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.

Aaron Cresswell will take on the armband for West Ham, with Mark Noble only on the bench tonight.

[27 December 2018 19:28 · Jack Sear]

West Ham's injury nightmare

This really isn't good reading for West Ham supporters, is it? Javier Hernandez, Pablo Zabaleta and Fabian Balbuena are the latest to be sidelined for Manuel Pellegrini's side.

[27 December 2018 19:35 · Jack Sear]

Moving on up

Both sides come into this game knowing that victories will see them move up the Premier League table.

For Southampton, another three points would see them move up a place to 15th and further away from the relegation zone.

Meanwhile, a win for West Ham would see them jump back into the top half of the table, potentially as high as eighth.

[27 December 2018 19:38 · Jack Sear]

Reasons to be positive for Southampton

The Saints have lost just one of their last nine league home matches against West Ham.

They are unbeaten in their last four home games and another victory here would see them register three straight league victories for the first time since May 2016.

[27 December 2018 19:40 · Jack Sear]

  ↵Closing in on kick-off

We're just five minutes away from getting started at St Mary's.

[27 December 2018 19:44 · Jack Sear]

Obafemi injured

Saints fans might have noticed that young striker Michael Obafemi is not in the squad tonight having scored against Huddersfield last weekend.

It seems 'a minor injury' is the reason for his absence.