Brighton and Hove Albion vs West Ham United
Date: 03/02/18
K/O: 15:00pm
Venue: Amex Stadium
Brighton and West Ham meet on the south coast this weekend, with Saturday’s clash presenting three vital Premier League points in both of these teams respective bids to beat the drop in 2017/18.
If the poor form of Chris Hughton’s side was to continue, the Seagulls could drop in to the relegation zone, whereas West Ham could jump in to the top ten and further cement their Premier League status with a crucial victory at the Amex.
Team News:
Hughton will have the returning Leonardo Ulloa in order to help them with their goal crisis, though he will be without Steven Sidwell who is out for the season with an ankle injury. The West Ham game might come too soon for record signing Jurgen Locadia as he has only just started training with the club after returning from injury himself.
David Moyes however could have a selection headache due to the massive injury crisis at the club after a disappointing January transfer window. There are six key injuries to first team players. Marko Arnautovic and Manuel Lanzini are a couple of weeks away from returns to the squad. Furthermore, Andy Carroll and Pedro Obiang are potentially out for the season.
Embed from Getty ImagesMeanwhile Arthur Masuaku will continue to serve his suspension for spitting. Although Moyes will be able to welcome back Michail Antonio to the squad after he recovered form injury and has gotten over his in-house punishment for being late to meetings which saw him miss the last game against Palace. Moyes will also have new signing Jordan Hugill in the squad who made a deadline day move to the club from Preston.
Predicted starting XI’s:
Brighton and Hove Albion: Ryan, Bong, Dunk, Duffy, Schelotto, Izquierdo, Propper, Stephans, March, Gross and Murray
West Ham United: Adrian, Cresswell, Rice, Ogbonna, Collins, Byram, Zabaleta, Noble, Kouyate, Mario, and Hernandez
Prediction:
Brighton should be the favourites against a very weakened West Ham team, and if they score an early goal it would be hard to imagine West Ham getting back in to the game. Although if Brighton don’t get the early goal, West Ham will show that they still can cause danger on the counter attack.
Score Prediction: Brighton 1 West Ham 0
Written by Henry Tomlinson.
