Preview: West Ham United vs. Brighton & Hove Albion – prediction, team news, lineups

Still waiting for their first ever Premier League home win Brighton & Hove Albion, West Ham United hope to end their Seagulls hoodoo on Saturday at the London Stadium.

Neither side managed to pick up three points in Gameweek 16, which Christmas Lopetegui‘s men played out a 1-1 draw with Bournemouth after their visitors were beaten 3-1 by M23 derby rivals Crystal Palace.

Match preview

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The story of West Ham and Bournemouth’s game on Monday night at the Vitality Stadium was a tale of two set pieces; after Lucas Paqueta stroked home a spot-kick to put the Irons within touching distance of success, they were denied a precious win by an extraordinary Enes Unal free kick.

Had the Cherries’ Turkish striker not picked the top corner with one of the Premier League’s goals of the season, the Irons would have reveled in winning back-to-back Premier League games for the first time this season, having were beaten by relegation rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1 before their trip to the south coast.

Nevertheless, Lopetegui’s 14th-placed side still have a healthy buffer to spare Premier League relegation zone – Sitting seven points clear of Ipswich Town in 18th, but inconsistency remains the theme of the season for Saturday’s hosts.

In fact, West Ham have only followed one Premier League result with the same result once this season – their back-to-back defeats to Leicester City and Arsenal – suggesting there will be a winner and a loser in London this weekend Stadium match.

However, the Irons have slowly rebuilt the walls of their fortress, picking up a respectable 10 points in their last five Premier League games at the London Stadium, the same amount they had managed in their previous 11 top-flight games at home.

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West Ham’s total of four points from their last two Premier League games still trumps their visitors’ record from their last four top-flight matches, which Fabian Hurzeler‘s Brighton failed to triumph for a fourth time on the spin when bitter rivals Palace visited the Amex last weekend.

The seagulls had their wings clipped by a flash Ismaila Sarrwho scored two goals of his own and claimed an unorthodox assist for Trevoh Chalobah in a masterful performance from Palace whose only blot on the notebook was too late Marc Guehi own goal.

A combination of two points from their last four Premier League games and two wins from their last nine games in all competitions doesn’t suit a team with continental aspirations, but the ninth-placed Seagulls are still very much in the European mix, just three points behind Manchester City in fifth place.

Always good entertainment value, Hurzeler’s side have both scored and conceded in each of their last nine games across all competitions and as inconsequential as Guehi’s own goal was last weekend, it extended the Seagulls’ scoring streak to 14 games in the league and EFL Cup combined .

Brighton have also established themselves as West Ham’s home team, avoiding defeat in each of their first seven top-flight visits to the London Stadium; five of those matches have ended in draws, but the Hammers have never met a single opponent at home in the Premier League multiple times without winning.

West Ham United Premier League form:

Brighton & Hove Albion Premier League form:

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It’s one in, one out on the suspension front for West Ham, as usual Emerson Palmieri is back from a one-match suspension served in the Bournemouth loss, midfielder Carlos Soler must sit this one out due to an accumulation of yellow cards.

The Spaniard was hooked too Niclas Fullkrug before the hour mark on Monday night anyway, and that change could now happen from the first whistle as Lopetegui makes the switch Jarrod Bowen back to a wide role to accommodate the German centre-forward.

Fullkrug’s co-striker Michael Antonio is still on the long road to recovery from surgery following his recent car accident, while Jean-Clair Todibo – who has a tight groin – is their only other injury concern.

The Brighton doctors have several more players to look after than West Ham currently do and Hurzeler is expected to be without five players for Saturday’s game, including the long-term absence Adam Webster (thigh).

None of Danny Welbeck (ankle), Ferdi Kadioglu (foot), Jack Hinshelwood (knee), James Milner (thigh) or Solly March (knee) is expected to make the cut either, but in brighter news, Matt O’Riley and Joel Veltman is set to return.

The latter two will most likely push for immediate recalls to the first XI, Veltman instead Tariq Lamptey and O’Riley potentially taking over the spot Yasin Ayari in the engine room.

West Ham United’s possible starting line-up:
Fabianski; Wan-Bissaka, Mavropanos, Kilman, Emerson; Alvarez, Soucek; Bowen, Paqueta, Kudus; Full mug

Brighton & Hove Albion possible starting lineup:
Verbruggen; Veltman, Van Hecke, Dunk, Estupinan; Baleba, O’Riley; Adingra, Rutter, Mitoma; Pedro

We say: West Ham United 2-2 Brighton & Hove Albion

While West Ham have shown a slightly more robust edge to them in recent home games, an injury-hit Brighton lack inspiration at the moment and can’t be trusted to close the back door either.

However, Hurzeler’s men can often do as well as they get in the final third, and their hosts have not shown anywhere near the level of consistency, so we can believe they can finally beat the Seagulls in a Premier League home game ; an entertaining stalemate seems the most likely outcome.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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