Supercomputer predicts West Ham's chances of 74-year first vs Southampton

West Ham United have had plenty of joy against Southampton over the years ahead of this weekend's clash.

The Hammers and the Saints both have the same goal in mind - returning to the top flight.

Those ambitions should make this a hotly contested tie, particularly with the form of the two being quite similar.

Southampton would be just one point behind the East Londoners if they had not received a points deduction.

West Ham, though, are unbeaten over their last eight Championship games.

Nuno Espirito Santo is also holding the bragging rights from their 4-1 Carabao Cup victory back in August as the supercomputer shares its verdict for 24 October.

What has the supercomputer predicted for West Ham vs Southampton

West Ham will be hoping to repeat their tricks from this season already by securing another emphatic win against Southampton.

Jarrod Bowen, Taty Castellanos and youngster Joshua Ajala were on the scoresheet in that 4-1 cup clash.

The Hammers have the home advantage this time around, with that not proving to be much of a bonus for Southampton a couple of months back.

Nuno's side do head into the game as the favourites according to the latest projections from the Opta supercomputer.

The E20 outfit have been given a 49.8 per cent chance of picking up all three points, with the visitors handed under half of those odds at 24.8 per cent.

A draw is deemed more likely than an away victory, with that outcome standing at 25.3 per cent.

The fixture against the Saints could also arrive with even more stakes, with a 74-year first on the horizon for West Ham.

The 74-year first West Ham can achieve

West Ham and Southampton have been frequent opponents throughout their history, with 185 fixtures between the two.

The Irons have come out on top most often, with 83 wins across those games.

However, while they have contested plenty of games, there have only been two ties between both outfits in England's second tier after 1952.

In the 2011-2012 season, the Saints managed to go unbeaten against West Ham in the Championship with a 1-0 win at home and a 1-1 draw away.

This means you do have to go all the way back to 20 December 1952 to find a Hammers victory against Southampton in a league match outside of the top flight.

However, the supercomputer has now predicted for that to no longer be the case following Saturday's matchup.