Sky Sports pundit Charlie Nicholas is predicting that West Ham’s spirited performance against Liverpool on Monday will inspire them to victory versus Southampton this weekend.

The Hammers go into Saturday’s encounter one point off safety, but Nicholas thinks a win at the London Stadium could make it very difficult to predict who will go down this season:

“David Moyes’ men were awful and scared at Manchester City, but went with a nothing-to-lose attitude at Liverpool. Southampton are tremendously dangerous on the counter-attack. I have a feeling that West Ham will open the relegation door wide open. What amount of points is required for safety? It will be interesting.”

Nicholas has gone for a 2-1 win for David Moyes’ side. After a much-improved display earlier this week, that prediction does seem a tad more realistic but the Saints will be a tough test.

Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side have the fifth-best away record in the whole division, having picked up 20 points from 13 games. They did, however, lose 4-0 in their last league match on the road (although that was against Liverpool).

If West Ham do come out on top this weekend, it will be a big shot in the arm, and hopefully, it will be the start of a good run of form that can get them out of trouble.