Pick of the stats: West Ham v Southampton

West Ham will hope to strengthen their grip on an automatic promotion spot in the Championship when they host Southampton on Saturday afternoon (kick-off 15:00 BST).

The Hammers won 1-0 at Swansea last time out to move within one point of the league leaders and extend their unbeaten run to nine games (W6 D3).

Saints, who have lost just one of their past 10 matches (W6 D3), start the weekend in eighth but could cut the gap to West Ham to just two points with victory.

West Ham have lost just one of their past 13 league games against Southampton (W8 D4), a 3-2 home defeat in December 2021.
Southampton have lost five of their previous seven away league games against West Ham (D1 L1), conceding 16 goals in that time (2.3 per game).
West Ham have scored a league-leading 30 goals in the Championship so far this season, their joint-most after their opening 11 games of a league campaign along with 1930-31.
Only Swansea City (8) have conceded fewer goals in the Championship this season than Southampton (10), with the Saints looking to keep four successive league clean sheets for the first time since February 2016 (run of six).
West Ham (15.9) and Southampton (15.4) are two of the top three sides in the Championship this season for xG from open play, with Middlesbrough second (15.8).