West Ham United have only ended one of the first eleven matchdays at the top of the Championship table.

It goes without saying, then, that climbing to the summit for a second time will be the ambition going into this weekend. The Hammers host Tonda Eckert’s Southampton at 3pm on Saturday afternoon, the very same time league leaders Swansea City kick off away at Queens Park Rangers.

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Tomas Soucek of West Ham United celebrates with teammates after scoring the team's fifth goal during the Sky Bet Championship match between Lincoln City and West Ham United at the Gelder Group Sincil Bank Stadium in Lincoln, on October 14, 2026.

“I know they are second in the league at the moment, but even if they were eighth or ninth, with what West Ham have got, it will still be West Ham plus one [to go up],” says Hinchcliffe, a long-time co-commentator on Championship clashes.

“They are further down the line and have embraced the league a lot more than I thought they would do in the first eleven games.

“Unless something horrendous happens at West Ham with players getting injured… Every element of their game is really good. That application, that attitude is the number one thing you need in the Championship.

“If that doesn’t change – and I don’t see why it would – then I think they have to be the title winners, not just in the top two. And then it’s who finishes behind them.”

Nuno Espirito Santo has been pretty fortunate with injuries so far

Hinchcliffe accepts that this most unpredictable of divisions has made fools out of the most knowledgeable pundits. Injuries to Jarrod Bowen, Mavropanos or Mukasa could yet derail this runaway steam train.

But it is a testament to how impressive West Ham have been – and how much better they can still become – that he is willing to nail claret and blue colours to the mast with 35 games remaining.

“How many times have we said it after 10 or 20 games? A team looks nailed on, and then the league can come back and bite you,” adds the 1995 FA Cup winner. “But there’s nothing I’ve seen from West Ham which leads me to believe they will dramatically fall away.”

Since Championship football returned after the international break, Keiber Lamadrid has been West Ham’s only injury absence. Tomas Soucek came back with a vengeance, scoring a brace away to Lincoln in what was only his second match of 2026/27 after an ankle issue.

Joel Veltman has started each of their last two matches after an absence of his own, part of a defence which successfully shut down Lincoln and Swansea.

Unless there has been a training ground blow we don’t yet know about, Nuno should have an almost fully-fit squad to choose from this weekend. In contrast, Southampton are praying on the availability of Cyle Larin, their seven-goal top scorer.