Liam Duckstein
Southend and West Ham meet in a pre-season friendly on 18 July 2026, and the gap between these two sides is about as wide as it gets in summer football. West Ham, now under Nuno Espírito Santo, are preparing for their competitive season with serious opposition, while Southend, managed by club legend Kieron Dyer, are using this kind of fixture to test themselves against far higher-ranked opposition. The most telling detail here is that Southend have won just one of their last five matches and their only game in the last 30 days ended in defeat.
West Ham’s warm-up schedule has been genuinely demanding. They have faced Premier League opposition including Arsenal, Newcastle, and Brentford in their recent run of friendlies, which means their squad will arrive at this fixture in far better competitive shape. Keep an eye on whoever Nuno deploys centrally in midfield — that area has been the engine of West Ham’s best moments this pre-season. Up front, the forward tasked with leading the press will be worth watching given how West Ham have looked to play with intensity even in these early summer games.
Hot stat: West Ham beat Leeds 3-0 in their most recent outing, a result that showed their attacking unit firing cleanly even against a side ranked inside the top 50 globally.
| 🏆 Tournament: | International Club Friendly 2026 – July Phase |
| 🗓️ Date: | 18.07.2026 |
| ⏰ Time: | 16:00 CEST |
Southend vs West Ham prediction
The bookmakers have priced this with West Ham as overwhelming favourites at 73%, and that assessment is hard to argue with. Southend have lost three of their last five matches and their attacking output has been minimal. West Ham, by contrast, scored three goals against Leeds in their last game and have been working through a structured pre-season against quality Premier League sides. The class difference between a side ranked 60th in the world and one ranked outside the top 6000 is enormous.
We predict a comfortable West Ham win. The most valuable market here is a West Ham win with over 2.5 goals. Nuno’s teams tend to press high and demand intensity from their forwards, which should translate into multiple goals against a Southend side that has struggled defensively — they conceded four against Hartlepool and lost to Cambridge United and Scunthorpe in recent outings.
Southend’s defensive shape will be tested from the first whistle. They commit fouls regularly and can be exposed by teams with quick transitions. West Ham’s squad depth in pre-season means they can rotate freely and still maintain quality throughout 90 minutes. The corners market is also worth considering — West Ham’s wide play and set-piece threat should generate a high volume of corners against a Southend side that will likely sit deeper as the game progresses.
| 🔥Hot Tip: | West Ham to win both halves |
| ⚽Total Goals: | Over 2.5 |
| 💥Both Teams To Score: | No |
| 🎯Total Corners: | Over 7.5 |
Team Analysis
Southend come into this fixture with a difficult recent run behind them. In their last five matches they recorded just one win — a 2-1 victory over Wealdstone — while losing to Cambridge United (1-2), Scunthorpe (0-1), and Hartlepool (3-4). That Hartlepool defeat is particularly telling: conceding four goals to a side ranked well outside the top 15,000 globally suggests real vulnerability at the back. The 0-0 draw against Wealdstone in a separate fixture shows some defensive resilience on their better days, but consistency has been absent. Kieron Dyer will be looking for a positive response, but the quality of opposition here is a significant step up from anything Southend have faced recently.
West Ham have had a genuinely competitive pre-season. Their 3-0 win over Leeds in the most recent outing was their most convincing result, and it came after back-to-back defeats to Newcastle (1-3) and Arsenal (0-1). Those losses came against elite opposition and should not cause alarm — the performances were competitive. Before that run, they beat Everton 2-1, which showed the squad can find results against established Premier League sides. The 0-3 loss to Brentford was a flat performance, but taken across five matches, West Ham have shown enough attacking quality and structure to suggest they will handle Southend without much difficulty. Nuno Espírito Santo’s teams are typically well-organized defensively and direct in attack, which suits a fixture like this perfectly.
🚨Check out our dedicated Southend vs West Ham stats page for more info.
Pre-game odds and win probability: West Ham the favourite
- Moneyline Southend 9.60 | West Ham 1.29
- Draw 5.40
West Ham at 1.29 reflects their enormous quality advantage and is a fair price given everything the form data tells us. Southend at 9.60 is not a value play — their recent record against lower-ranked opposition has been inconsistent, and they have not beaten anyone of West Ham’s calibre in recent memory. The draw at 5.40 is interesting only if you expect Nuno to rotate heavily and Southend to park defensively for 90 minutes, but even then the 3-0 win over Leeds suggests West Ham have more than enough to break down a League Two-level side. We see no reason to deviate from backing West Ham here.
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West Ham. Source: Official Facebook. Edited photo
TipsGG Match Prediction
The numbers point in one direction. West Ham arrive in form after a 3-0 win over Leeds, they have been tested by Arsenal and Newcastle this pre-season, and their squad quality under Nuno Espírito Santo is categorically superior. Southend have lost three of their last five, conceded four goals to Hartlepool, and have not played anyone close to West Ham’s level in recent months.
We predict a West Ham win by at least two goals. The best value sits in backing West Ham on the moneyline combined with over 2.5 total goals. Both teams to score is a no — Southend’s attack has been very quiet recently and West Ham’s defensive organization should keep things tidy at the back. Expect West Ham to dominate possession, generate a high corner count, and find the net multiple times. This is a straightforward call.
