WHU vs SOU
Match Centre

FULL TIME: West Ham 2-3 Saints

What an afternoon of football at London Stadium. A superb performance from Hasenhüttl's Southampton side who had to take the lead three times in order to secure all three points in East London. Elyounoussi's opener came after just eight minutes as Saints dominated early on, with Ward-Prowse and Bednarek also netting to ensure a very festive Boxing Day for Saints fans. On to Tuesday!

Yellow Card for Kyle Walker-Peters (Southampton)

Walker-Peters sees a late booking.

Southampton substitution: Ibrahima Diallo replaces Oriol Romeu

Hasenhüttl utilises his final substitution of the night as Diallo replaces Romeu. 

Southampton substitution: Stuart Armstrong replaces Theo Walcott

Armstrong makes his long awaited return, featuring for the first time since November. 

Yellow Card for Jan Bednarek (Southampton)

Bednarek is shown a yellow for a tussle with Antonio. 

Southampton substitution: Ché Adams replaces Armando Broja

First change of the afternoon for Hasenhüttl as the opening goalscorer is replaced by returning Adams. 

GOALSCORER 35 Jan Bednarek

BEDNAREK REGAINS SAINTS LEAD

Ward-Prowse fires in a sublime free-kick to the penalty area and would you believe it, Bednarek is there to fire home a header for Saints as they take the lead for the third time this afternoon.

GOALSCORER 8 James Ward-Prowse

FLAWLESS FROM WARD-PROWSE

Ward-Prowse scores from the penalty spot as Saints regain their lead in the capital. Cool, calm and collected from the captain and while Fabianski comes close, the shot is just too powerful from the skipper. 

VAR Decision: Penalty awarded for Southampton [Armando Broja] was confirmed

Kevin Friend goes to the screen and Southampton are awarded a penalty after Dawson makes a clumsy challenge on Broja. 

Ward-Prowse hits the counter

Ward-Prowse races down the wing for Saints and searches for the head of Walcott in the box, Dawson is there to clear for the hosts but it only goes out as far as Redmond who can't get his shot under control and on target. 

Back to it 

Moyes has made his intentions known by bringing on Antonio and Lanzini at the break. Can Saints hold off the West Ham attack?

HALF TIME: West Ham 0-1 Saints

Southampton came out the far more energetic of the two sides at London Stadium with Elyounoussi monopolising on the advantage early on to give Saints the lead after just eight minutes of play. A couple of positive spells from West Ham have been largely outshone by a dominant performance from the visiting team. A huge 45 minutes ahead as Saints look to hold onto this afternoon's lead. 

Walker-Peters applying pressure

Walker-Peters gets the better of Coufal as he comes away with the ball to offload Broja who finds his way into the area with ease. The Albanian looks to drift forward to fire a shot across goal but he loses the angle and there's nobody there to tap in the cross. 

Walker-Peters cautioned 

Walker-Peters has a brief word with Kevin Friend, who cautions him over a number of questionable challenges. He gets away without a booking for now, though ...

Redmond tries his luck

Broja forces Dawson into conceding a corner with Ward-Prowse then firing in a tantalising ball into the area. The West Ham defence is there to clear once more but only as far as Redmond who looks to find the net from range but it's a safe recovery for Fabianski. 

Elyounoussi attempts a second

Some lovely footwork from Elyounoussi who dances his way just into the penalty area before releasing a low shot towards goal, it's lacking power and heads straight into the hands of Fabianski. 

Saints back in control

Saints have regained control at London Stadium, after a brief spark of energy from Moyes' side. Ward-Prowse sends in a corner but it's safely cleared by the West Ham defence. 

PARTNERSHIP 🔗

Back in the squad and back scoring goals. A vital goal from Elyounoussi to give Saints an early lead over West Ham. 

Saints maintaing momentum

Hasenhüttl's side are taking advantage of a somewhat sluggish West Ham side so far, with every player contributing on the attack to maintain Saints' lead. There's a lot of time to go in East London, but it's impressive from the visitors nonetheless. 

GOALSCORER 24 Mohamed Elyounoussi

ELYOUNOUSSI YOU BEAUTY

Having seen plenty of the ball in the opening ten minutes at London Stadium, Walker-Peters drives forward for Saints before releasing to Elyounoussi 20 yards out. A fantastic strike from the Norwegian as the ball bounces into the bottom corner to give Saints an early lead. 

Saints feeling their way into the game

An energised start from Saints, who have looked particularly aggressive in the opening stages in their last few games. Can they take advantage early on?

Underway at London Stadium!

Let's go Saints!

5 minutes and counting ⏰

Kick off is fast-approaching in the capital!

SAINTS LINE-UP CONFIRMED 😇

Starting XI: Forster, Livramento, Bednarek, Salisu, Walker-Peters, Romeu, Ward-Prowse [c], Walcott, Elyounoussi, Redmond, Broja. 

Subs: Caballero, Simeu, Valery, Perraud, Diallo, S. Armstrong, Adams, Long, A. Armstrong.

STAT ATTACK 🔢

All four of Armando Broja's Premier League goals have given Saints the lead in the game, and have been worth five points overall.

BOXING DAY DELIGHT | Chelsea 0-2 Southampton

On this day in 2019, Saints claimed a 2-0 victory over Chelsea on another Boxing Day trip to the capital. Michael Obafemi and Nathan Redmond were on the scoresheet for Saints two years ago, but will Saints see victory at London Stadium this afternoon?

FESTIVE FOOTBALL 🔜

Fraser Forster, Stuart Armstrong and Ché Adams all returned to first team training this week ahead of Saints' trip to West Ham.

FLASHBACK: Saints 0-0 West Ham [September 2021]

Neither side could produce a match deciding goal when these two sides faced in the reverse fixture earlier this season, with Michail Antonio also seeing red in the 95th minute of play. What will happen this time on West Ham turf?

They are consistently on a high level, hard to beat, defensively well organised, offensively with a lot of quality on the pitch and when you see the development in the past years it’s amazing, yes.”

ralph hasenhüttl

on saints' trip to west ham

MATCH PACK: West Ham vs Saints

Prepare for today's trip to the capital with our Match Pack.

Welcome to London Stadium!

Good morning Saints fans and welcome to London Stadium. Boxing Day football is back as Southampton travel to West Ham in the Premier League. Ralph Hasenhüttl confirmed earlier this week that both Ché Adams and Stuart Armstrong have returned to training for Saints, while David Moyes is hopeful Michail Antonio will return after testing positive for COVID. Come on you Saints!