West Ham United head to the St Mary’s Stadium to take on the Saints and David Moyes’ side might go into this game with a slight upper hand.
The Saints have been in top form this season as they have lost only a single game at home to date meaning the Hammers will have their work cut out in midweek. West Ham have also been playing some wonderful football but the St Mary’s outfit have been tactically very stout and they have promptly shut out the bigger sides.
Ralph Hasenhuttl though has claimed that he will look to rotate his squad when Southampton take on West Ham United meaning the home side will not be at their 100%.
“You always have to look [at your squad],” said Hasenhüttl. “We’ve had an intense time already and have an intense two weeks to come, so we have to have balance.
“It’s important you give other players the chance.
Ralph Hasenhuttl has confirmed Southampton will wear their yellow and blue kit at Aston Villa on Saturday as football continues to show support for the people of Ukraine 🇺🇦#SaintsFC pic.twitter.com/bwoW4wFndj
— Saints Live (@Saints_FCLive) March 1, 2022
“We have players who don’t struggle with playing two, three games a week. But we also have some who will be at a high risk of injury.
“It’s important you give other players the chance and in the FA Cup you have the option of five substitutes too. That’s another chance to give others a chance.”
It was pretty obvious that the primarily Saints players were going to be rested for this FA Cup clash and even West Ham are going to do the same.
West Ham take on Liverpool in their next Premier League game so Moyes has to rest his best players or they will not stand a chance at winning against Klopp’s men.
This one is going to be a pretty evenly matched contest and since both the teams are going to play with their fringe players, it’s really hard to predict if the Saints are going to come out on top or will West Ham nick this one.
Thankfully, Southampton do not have any fresh injury concerns meaning Nathan Tella, McCarthy and Lyanco are the only players missing for this 5th Round FA Cup clash.
