Saints v Irons: The Lawrenson verdict

Like everybody else, even Mark Lawrenson raised his eyebrows at the starting eleven put out by David Moyes against Brighton.

And although we just about got away with a point he doesn’t fancy them to do so when they travel to the South coast for the game against Southampton.

Saints were a bit off colour themselves when managing only a point in a goalless affair at Craven Cottage but at least there was more clarity in their team selection than we saw in the Hammers starting eleven.

There’s no escaping the fact that we have been fortunate to suffer only one defeat over the last four games but Lawrenson believes we are heading for another tomorrow at St Mary’s.

It’s hard to disagree based on what we have seen over the last three games and we can only hope the manager has shaken off his odd mindset for the Brighton game and comes up with something more positive and constructive.

Calling the game on his BBC website column the former Liverpool player says: “Southampton wee a bit subdued in their draw with Fulham, but they were missing some key men in Oriol Romeu, Jannik Vestergaard and Danny Ings.

Vestergaard is out for a while by the sounds of things and the quicker Ings is fit, the better. At least Romeu will return in midfield after his suspension though.

I was a little bit surprised by the West Ham team that David Moyes put out against Brighton, and they didn’t start well either.

The Hammers still got something out of that game, but I think they will find things a lot harder against Saints.”

Lawro’s prediction: 2-0