If last weekend’s trip to Swansea was a test of just how serious our promotion ambitions are, then Saturday’s visit of Southampton to the London Stadium provides another one. And after what we achieved in Wales, we should go into it with plenty of confidence.
Winning 1-0 away to the Championship leaders was arguably our most impressive result of the season so far. It might not have had the fireworks of our 6-0 victory at Lincoln a few days earlier, but sometimes those gritty away wins tell you rather more about a side. It was, as Geoff described, a competent performance rather than an outstanding one that reduced their lead at the top to one point. If we had lost the gap would have been seven points. Divine Mukasa got the decisive goal as we made it consecutive away victories and extended our unbeaten league run to nine matches.
Now we need to bring that momentum back to the London Stadium. Saturday’s 3pm kick-off sees second-placed West Ham take on a Southampton side who are just creeping into a play-off place in eighth, but that league position is slightly misleading. The Saints started the campaign with a four-point deduction and have lost just twice in the Championship to Wrexham and Watford. Without that deduction they would be right amongst the leading pack, so this looks like another genuine test between two sides with designs on promotion. In fact, just one point separates us on the field. We have collected 22 points from our eleven matches, while Southampton have earned 21 before their deduction is applied.
They arrive in London after a goalless draw at home to Bolton last weekend, having previously recorded successive 1-0 victories over Norwich and Portsmouth. That suggests we shouldn’t expect another Lincoln-style goal-fest.
There have certainly been some memorable meetings between the two clubs over the years and, overall, and especially in recent times, we’ve generally had the better of them. Before this season, our last meeting at the London Stadium finished 1-1 in April 2025, while on Boxing Day 2024 we came away from St Mary’s with a 1-0 victory.
Go back a little further and Southampton became rather welcome visitors to our part of East London. We beat them 1-0 in April 2023 and 3-1 in February 2020, while one of my favourite recent meetings came on the final day of the 2020/21 season. Our 3-0 victory secured sixth place and European football, although sadly there weren’t the usual thousands of us inside the ground to enjoy it.
Fortunately, I was successful in the ballot and one of the lucky ones to be among the 10,000 allowed into the ground as Covid restrictions were gradually being eased. Two first half goals from Pablo Fornals gave us a comfortable half-time lead before Declan Rice sealed the victory five minutes from the end with a run from inside our half through the Southampton defence almost unchallenged to slot home. It was strange to be at the ground after so long away and even weirder with just 10,000 allowed in to keep us ‘relatively’ separated from each other.
But perhaps the most relevant previous meeting is the one that happened only a couple of months ago. We travelled to St Mary’s in the League Cup on 25 August and returned with a resounding 4-1 victory. That ought to give us confidence, although it probably gives Southampton a little extra motivation as well.
For us, perhaps the biggest challenge is maintaining the standards we’ve set over the last couple of matches. Thirty league goals already demonstrates the attacking talent we possess, but the 1-0 at Swansea showed another side to us. If we are going to get out of this wonderfully unpredictable division at the first attempt, we’ll need both qualities. There is an added incentive as well. Depending on results elsewhere, victory could see us finish the weekend at the top of the Championship. After relegation and all the disappointment that came with it, that wouldn’t be a bad position to be in as we head towards November.
I’m beginning to feel quietly optimistic. Perhaps that’s dangerous territory for any West Ham supporter, because experience tells me what normally happens as soon as we start getting carried away! But six goals at Lincoln followed by a hard-earned victory at Swansea is difficult to ignore.
Southampton will probably provide another uncomfortable afternoon, and maybe that’s exactly what we need. Beat another promotion contender and we really can start believing that this might be more than simply a decent start.
I’ll be watching this game from the hospitality area. I did experience hospitality once before at Upton Park but this is the first time I will have experienced it at the London Stadium. I’ve always sat on the opposite side of the London Stadium so this will be my first experience of sitting on this side of the ground. I must remember my binoculars!
