Unbeaten in their last six games, Southampton are astonishingly improving their form and display since mid-January. They didn’t surrender to Man City, Man Utd, nor Tottenham and are looking capable of continuing that splendid streak.On the other hand, their tonight’s opponents, West Ham, are almost equally good in the last couple of weeks. That’s why their FA Cup clash on Wednesday night will be as levelled as it gets, unlike the other two, where Chelsea and Liverpool are predestined to grab landslide victories.A memorable #SaintsFC victory over #WHUFC ✨In 2017, @Mgabbia23 opened the scoring in a dramatic 3-2 win at St Mary’s: pic.twitter.com/JgGKgQJHLG— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) March 2, 2022 West Ham reached the fifth round with a 2-0 home win over Leeds United before sneaking past National League North challengers Kidderminster Harriers 2-1 in extra-time, while Southampton needed an extra 30 minutes to defeat EFL Championship sides Swansea City and Coventry City 3-2 and 2-1 respectively.With a chance to reach the Emirates FA Cup quarter-finals tonight, the Saints manager Ralph Hasenhuttl has emphasised the importance of cup competitions for his squad.Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl says there’s ‘no reason’ his side can’t reach the levels of Man City and Liverpool 📈 pic.twitter.com/EQPfNRSKi3— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) February 25, 2022 “So far, the cup competitions have been important for us as a team to stay committed,” he said. “This is mostly the reason why I very often gave other players a chance to play, to show their importance for us as a team, as a club.”And that helped us massively for keeping the atmosphere good in this team because when you have a bigger squad and you have a few players they are not able to play all the time, then they need something, a target where they are looking at.”And then they showed in all the cup competitions so far that they have done a good job. And yeah, I want to get a chance again.”I don’t know how many players will get a chance to show up again and how much we will change to the last game. But there will be a few ones definitely.”FA CUP Fifth RoundTuesdayPeterborough – Man.City 0-2 (0-0)/Mahrez 60, Grealish 67/Crystal Palace – Stoke 2-1 (0-0)/Kouyate 53, Riedewald 82 – Tymon 58/Middlesbrough. – Tottenham 1-0 (0-0) AET/Coburn 107/Wednesday22.15: (9.00) Luton (4.90) Chelsea (1.40)22.30: (2.50) Southampton (3.35) West Ham (3.05)23.15: (1.20) Liverpool (8.00) Norwich (14.0)Thursday23.15: (1.15) Everton (9.00) Boreham Wood (22.0)Monday22.30: (2.10) Nott.Forest (3.50) Huddersfield (3.80)***odds are subject to change
