U21 Preview: West Ham vs Saints

THE MATCH
West Ham United vs Saints
Premier League 2
Rush Green
Friday 22nd September, 7pm

Saints will be hoping for a return to winning ways after suffering a 5-1 defeat against Fulham before the international break.

Saints sit in 18th in the table, two points outside of the playoff qualification spots, after their first three games with one win and two defeats.

Under-18s forward Jay Robinson scored his first goal of the season last time out against Fulham.

Saints were beaten by an in-form Fulham side in their last PL2 game. (Photo: Isabelle Field)

West Ham United have had a positive start with just one defeat in their opening four games.

The Hammers finished 11th in PL2 last season, but their Under-18s had a stellar campaign winning the FA Youth Cup and Under-18s Premier League with several of those players comfortably making the jump to Under-21s football.

Two goalscorers against Saints in the FA Youth Cup last season, Divin Mubama and Gideon Kodua, have featured and scored in league or cup action already for West Ham's Under-21s this season.

PREVIOUS MEETING

The last time the two sides met was in the 2021/22 season when the Hammers were 3-1 winners at Rush Green.

Kazeem Olaigbe's first PL2 goal wasn't enough to spark a comeback as a brace from Ademipo Odubeko and a final strike from Dan Chesters proved to be the difference.

PLAYERS PREVIEW

After returning from international duty with England's Under-18s, full-back Jayden Meghoma spoke ahead of Saints' trip to East London.

"I think it'll be a challenging game but we need to get back to winning ways and really perform in a manner where we can win.

"Everybody is in high spirits so hopefully we can get a good result."