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West Ham to play the away game without three important players

The Saints' and England striker Ricky Lambert is headed for a special record, chasing a goal number 200 in his career in what is to be his 200th cap for Southampton

Sothampton's top quality striker Ricky Lambert could appear for the 200th time in Southampton jersey, if he is selected today, and he will be. He came to the club in 2009 and has missed only two matches ever since, due to injury. Not only is he about to play for the 200th time for Southampton but he is also chasing his career goal number 200. A terrific accomplishment from the England international, especially considering the fact that he used to earn pocket change at the beginning of his career while working in a beer bottle factory at the same time. We hope he will achieve both his objectives in today's match. 

The manager Mauricio Pochettino has succeeded in lowering the tension around the club after they have won 4 points in the first three rounds. The strategist highlighted that the season is long and that their best performances are yet to come. Today they play West Ham so the team will try to prove he was right. The style of play he instilled in his Southampton side has proven quite good. They play attacking football, they exert pressure on the opponent's half and they have a tendency to play a lot of short passes, which is a rare feature in the English  Premier League football. In the eve of the match, Pochettino announced he expected a victory but he also said they need to be cautious given the West Ham's style of play. 

- From the three matches we've seen, I can tell you they are physically a very strong team. Their football is very simple but direct and it makes them very efficient. They have good players who possess a good fighting spirit. This style suits them well so we have to be careful in these situations should they happen during the match. but as I say, we will try to impose our style of play and also compete with them in terms of strength - said Pochettino prior to the 4th round match against West Ham. 

The Saints' defenders Fox and Hooiveld are doubtful for this match and will remain so until the very beginning of the match, so we'll see whether they play or not. Pochettino has no other problems and he has his best team at his disposal. 

As Pochettino has said it, West Ham are physically very strong, characterized by a direct and run-oriented style of football. Sam Allardyce instilled them a fighting spirit so the Hammers will be one tough cookie this season. They demonstrated it last season against the best teams in the league, giving them a good sweat and even defeating some of them. Today they face a difficult away game and the biggest problem for Big Sam is the injury of his best striker, Andy Caroll, around which most attacking options revolved. Caroll will be out for a couple of months, which means they are a much weaker side now. Regardless of his absence, West Ham has one victory and one draw in the first three rounds. 

- We play according to our abilities. Thruth be told, we play differently each match. The good new is that the international players are OK. The team played a good friendly against Espanyol on Wednesday. It went well, we gave some players opportunity to play in the starting line-up. I think that at this moment the team is ready and they feel excellent - said the Southampton manager Sam Allardyce. 

The Hammers will enter the match without the injured Caroll, while the likes of Joe Cole, Goerge McCartney and Stewart Downing complete the list of injured players. West Ham face this match practically without a first striker and without two best wingers. 

The former Croatia international and Fulham player, Mladen Petric, is an addition to West Ham team but he is not ready yet for the competitive rhythm that the Premier League requires because he has only recently joined the club. 

These two clubs belong to the middling rank of English football. With that said, Southampton have lately been aspiring, especially with the arrival of Pochetiino, to rise to the upper part of the league table and contend for Europe. In line with their aspirations, the Saints need to win. They have the game, they have the best English attacker, and last season in their home pitch they have toppled teams such as Manchester City and Chelsea. As they have only won four points in the first three rounds, it is high time they got a new win if they want to make their ambitions true. Even with a full team West Ham would be outplayed here in St. Mary's, and as they are four players short, I believe they have no chance of winning in such a weakened state. Their game is based on lots of running and physical duels, and lobbing the ball into the penalty area. Should the Saints play their own game, high pressing defense should easily swing this game in their favor.