West Ham stewards are fully kitted out in preparation for pitch invasions

Better to be safe than sorry

Attending a West Ham match is a strange experience these days. The fans' frustrations with the board after their move to the Olympic Stadium didn't pan out as they were promised have been well documented. At their last home game, fans channeled their anger by invading the pitch, targeting the directors' box, throwing coins at the chairmen, and causing any havoc they could. They've had enough, and fair enough. But the show must go on. West Ham host Southampton today and the stewards, tasked with preventing a repeat of the chaos that tainted the Burnley game, are well equipped. They appear to have been kitted out with protective goggles, reminiscent of those you'd wear in science at school, and football boots to help their grip, should they have to run on the pitch and tackle a pitch invader. https://twitter.com/whufc_news/status/980079455493337089 At the time of writing, West Ham are 2-0 up thanks to goals from Joao Mario and Marko Arnautović, so it's unlikely that tempers will flare this afternoon, but you can never be sure with West Ham. One Southampton goal could completely change the atmosphere. A win for West Ham would take them up to 33 points and possibly lift them to 12th or 13th, depending on other results, such is the nature of the tightly contested bottom half of the table, where 6 points separated 10th and 16th before the 3pm kick-offs today.