Ivan Jurić takes charge of Southampton for the first time on Boxing Day as they welcome West Ham United to St Mary's.
- Date: 26/12/2024
- Kick-off time: 15:00
- Location: St Mary's Stadium, Southampton
After a torrid first few months of the season, Southampton are hoping they can put their woes behind them and pull off what would be somewhat of a great escape. The Saints are rock bottom of the Premier League table with six points, having scored the fewest number of goals in the league (11) and conceded the third most goals (36).
It was expected that Southampton would find life in the Premier League tough, but things have been so bad that manager Russell Martin was shown the door before Christmas. Under Martin, Southampton were repeatedly giving cheap goals away through their dogmatic commitment to Martin's deep buildup style, and it reached such a nonsensical point that Martin had to be relieved of his duties, with his reputation stained.
Now, Southampton have appointed Ivan Jurić, the 49-year-old Croatian who has spent the majority of his career managing in Serie A. Jurić had a tough time at Roma recently but that's par for the course for managers of the Italian giants, and the Croat did some solid work at Torino in a three-year spell preceding his Roma stint, which followed a very impressive period with Hellas Verona, where Jurić was operating with one of the lowest budgets in the whole league.
He has a monumental job in his hands if he wants to keep Southampton in the Premier League this season, but it's likely he's taken the job with at least some of a view to bringing the Saints back up next season, hopefully in a stronger position. They did, though, get a decent result at the weekend, and if they can take three points off West Ham, the mood around the club will skyrocket immediately.
West Ham currently sit 14th in the Premier League with 20 points from 17 games. The Hammers have been one of the most disappointing sides this season, having invested heavily in their squad and appointing a continentally renowned manager, only to regress from where they were last season. Results have stabilised in recent weeks, but West Ham are far from impressive and look on course to finish somewhere in the upper end of the bottom half.
Julen Lopetegui has been under palpable pressure for much of this season for his team's sorry performances and underwhelming results, but as they come into this game unbeaten in their last three, the pressure has been somewhat alleviated. Still, though, the fans will demand more, and if he doesn't deliver, the pressure will quickly return.
In Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus, West Ham have a pair of very consistent performers who would likely be wanted by most sides in this division. Bowen has four goals and four assists this season, while Kudus, who is a joy to watch, has three goals and one assist - in far fewer minutes than most others, having missed large portions of the campaign.
West Ham have the tools to challenge the top seven, but Lopetegui is struggling to find a way to make his team a reflection of the sum of its parts. He's got time, but things need to keep improving, and regardless of any potential new manager bounce that Southampton might benefit from, the expectation from the fans will no doubt be that Lopetegui's side win on Boxing Day, and nothing less will be accepted.
Premier League 
