Follow live coverage as West Ham United face Southampton today in the Premier League. Another top-flight season will be covered in full right here with The Independent, as reigning champions Manchester City look to make it an unprecedented five titles in a row come the end of 2024/25.
The likes of Arsenal and Liverpool will be chasing Pep Guardiola's side, but just as fascinating will be the race for Champions League places, with more teams than ever before having designs on top-four finishes. Chelsea remain big-spending, Manchester United's latest rebuild continues and both Tottenham and Newcastle will expect improvements this year - yet it was Aston Villa who snared fourth last term.
Meanwhile, it's Southampton, Leicester City and Ipswich Town who made it back to the elite after promotion last year and each will have hope they can make it more than a one-year stay. Follow the latest live action from the Premier League below:
West Ham United FC 0 - 0 Southampton FC
West Ham United vs Southampton
15:09
West Ham have taken confidence from the Fullkrug’s early effort, as they can sense that Southampton are panicked and shaky when West Ham move towards goal.
West Ham United vs Southampton
15:07
GREAT SAVE! Ramsdale gets down sharply and bats Fullkrug’s effort away at the near post. The German got in front of the Southampton defender at the near post, getting a touch on a low cross from Paqueta, directing it goalwards, but he is denied by the English goalkeeper from giving West Ham the lead.
West Ham United vs Southampton
15:04
Southampton have started the brighter of the two sides, as they have looked to attack West Ham down the wings at pace, but did not produce any chance at goal.
West Ham United vs Southampton
15:01
West Ham get the game under way.
West Ham United vs Southampton
15:01
The teams are out on the pitch, with both desperate for a win. This promises to be cracker.
West Ham United vs Southampton
14:42
As for Southampton, Albert Gronbaek and Charlie Taylor remain sidelined with respective tendon and hip injuries, Onuachu has got over an ankle problem. Downes has returned to the starting line up after serving a two-match suspension. The Saints have approached the game woth three central defenders to tighten things up, as they have faced 225 shots on target in the Premier League this season, more than any other side. They are one of only two teams on record since 2003-04 to be facing 7+ shots on target per game (exactly 7 this season), along with Sheffield United last season (7.1).
West Ham United vs Southampton
14:37
West Ham's Aaron Cresswell has missed the last two games with a muscle injury and remains sidelined along with Crysencio Summerville (thigh) and Michail Antonio (leg), while Aaron Wan-Bissaka was deemed not fit enough after being assessed following a toe issue through the week. West ham have gone with Fullkrug up front, with the German hoping to add more danger up front, as since Potter took over West Ham only Southampton (111) and Leicester (112) have attempted fewer shots than the Hammers (114). Indeed, only Leicester (33) have registered fewer shots on target than Potter’s side (34) in the same period.
West Ham United vs Southampton
14:31
SOUTHAMPTON SUBS: Alex McCarthy, Joe Aribo, Will Smallbone, Ross Stewart, James Bree, Nathan Wood, Cameron Archer, Tyler Dibling, Welington
West Ham United vs Southampton
14:31
SOUTHAMPTON (3-5-2): Aaron Ramsdale; Jack Stephens, Jan Bednarek, Taylor Harwood-Bellis; Ryan Manning, Mateus Fernandes, Lesley Ugochukwu, Flynn Downes, Kyle Walker-Peters; Kamaldeen Sulemana, Paul Onuachu
West Ham United vs Southampton
14:31
WEST HAM SUBS: Lukasz Fabianski, Aaron Cresswell, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Luis Guilherme, Guido Rodriguez, Tomas Soucek, Evan Ferguson, Andy Irving, Ollie Scarles
West Ham United vs Southampton
14:31
WEST HAM (4-2-3-1): Alphonse Areola; Emerson, Maximilian Kilman, Jean-Clair Todibo, Vladimir Coufal; James Ward-Prowse, Carlos Soler, Mohammed Kudus, Lucas Paqueta, Jarrod Bowen; Niclas Fullkrug
West Ham United vs Southampton
14:30
Southampton are also desperate for a victory to ensure that they don’t finish as the worst Premier League side in history. Currently Derby County hold the record with only having 11 points by the end of a season; Southampton have six games remaining to get the necessary two points to achieve more points than Derby. Going against them is the fact their current loss percentage of 81% is the highest by any side in a top-flight season in history.
West Ham United vs Southampton
14:30
West Ham enter this game desperate to correct their poor form, having gone five games without a Premier League victory (D2 L3). Graham Potter’s side should be confident of getting a result against the club languishing at the bottom of the table as their recent record the Saints is relatively impressive, having lost just one of their last 12 Premier League games against Southampton (W8 D3), going down 3-2 at home in December 2021.
West Ham United vs Southampton
14:30
Welcome to our coverage of this Premier League fixture between West Ham and Southampton.
West Ham United vs Southampton
13:00
Follow all the goals and latest action from the Premier League here with The Independent. Team news and line-ups coming up shortly…
