Paul Merson has described West Ham's clash with relegation rivals Southampton this weekend as a "cup final".
David Moyes' Hammers welcome the Premier League's bottom club to the London Stadium on Sunday, with the two sides both currently in the bottom three and battling to avoid the drop to the Championship.
Heading into the weekend, West Ham sit 18th in the table and one point from safety, with Southampton sitting bottom of the table, one point behind the Hammers with 23 points from 28 games.
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West Ham do have at least one game in hand on the teams around them, with two games in hand on some of their relegation rivals, including Southampton, Crystal Palace and Everton.
The situation is likely to change by the time West Ham and Southampton meet on Sunday though, with several of their relegation rivals in action on Saturday, including Bournemouth (at home to Fulham) and Leeds United (away at Arsenal), while Nottingham Forest host Wolves and Crystal Palace face Leicester City.
And former Arsenal forward Merson has spoken about the importance of the game for both West Ham and Southampton as he made his prediction for the game at the London Stadium.
"This is a huge game," he said, in his weekly predictions feature for Sportskeeda. "A victory can get you so far out of the relegation battle, and you can jump four places. Southampton got a good result (3-3 draw) against Tottenham but if they lose here, they'll be in big trouble.
"West Ham turned up and produced an impressive performance against Nottingham Forest. This is a cup final, and I'm going to go with a West Ham victory this weekend."
Merson has predicted a 2-0 victory for the Hammers, while he is also forecasting wins for Bournemouth, Nottingham Forest and Leicester City this weekend.
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