A knees up at West Ham if Brighton end eight game winless run
It might sound strange, but West Ham away is the sort of fixture that Brighton fans can go into with greater confidence than facing the likes of Saudi Sportswashers Newcastle United, 1982 European Champions Aston Villa and 1996 Coca Cola Cup runners up The Leeds United.
The Albion have a ridiculous record this century against the Hammers, unbeaten in eight Premier League matches and having picked up more points in the East End of Laaaandan than there have been attempts on Phil Mitchell’s life.
Graham Potter’s side also tend to produce their better performances against sides higher up the table. West Ham are proving that last season’s top six finish was no fluke and are riding high in a Champions League spot at the time of writing, having already guaranteed their spot in the knockout stage of the Europa League and eliminated Manchester City on route to the Carabao Cup quarter final.
The Hammers are quality opponents who will want to force the issue against Brighton. As we have seen against the likes of Leicester City, Liverpool and in the second half when Pep Guardiola’s billion petrodollar squad came to the Amex, that plays into the Albion’s hands. Hopefully.
West Ham this season
Having secured Europa League football in 2020-21, one of the more intriguing subplots of the 2021-22 Premier League season surrounded West Ham.
Were they a flash-in-the-pan – ala Sheffield United in 2019-20 – or had David Moyes really had managed to turn them from a relegation candidates into a club capable of continually challenging for the top six?
The answer to that as we hurtle towards the halfway stage of the campaign has been pretty unanimous. The Hammers sit fourth, above the likes of Arsenal, Spurs, Leicester City and Manchester United – the club who famously dispensed with Moyes after less than a season in charge at Old Trafford.
For the best part of six years, it looked like Moyes’ reputation would never recover from his sacking by United. That is what has made the West Ham story so appealing to the neutral – a thoroughly decent bloke has battled back to prove himself one of the best managers in the country.
Imagine what he might have done at United had they afforded him the same sort of time and patience as Ole Gunnar Solksjaer received…
Their loss has proven West Ham’s gain, even if it has taken the Hammers appointing Moyes twice to realise that.
There is every chance that Champions League football will come to the London Stadium and having knocked City out of the League Cup, West Ham will fancy their chances of a Wembley final and a rare piece of silverware.
Team news
December is an absolutely batshit month with Brighton facing seven fixtures in four weeks. Potter will surely rotate his squad and that means that trying to second-guess what he will do becomes even more difficult than normal.
After 10 months out injured, Tariq Lamptey might struggle to get through three games in a week, so he likes a prime candidate to be rested.
That would open the door for Solly March to come back into the starting XI following his lively cameo off the bench in the 0-0 draw with The Leeds United.
Adam Lallana and Shane Duffy were rested for the game with the Peacocks. Both could return, although at the expense of who will only be decided by the Potter Roulette Wheel.
Enock Mwepu is back from injury and has thrived against the likes of Manchester City and Liverpool, so games against the better sides in the league clearly suit The Computer.
If Potter can find a way to get Mwepu in as a number 10 buzzing behind Leandro Trossard and Neal Maupay, then the Albion might manage to score from open play for only the second time in their past seven games.
Brighton’s chances of victory would receive a boost if Aaron Cresswell and Saïd Benrahma do not recover from the injuries they picked up in Sunday’s defeat to City. Other than those two and long term absentee Angelo Ogbonna, West Ham have a clean bill of health.
Key battles
Before the The Leeds United match at the weekend, we highlighted Kalvin Phillips against Yves Bissouma as an intriguing battle between two of the top flight’s best defensive midfielders.
That never really played out as Marcelo Bielsa deployed Phillips as a centre back and then hauled him at half time. Four days later and maybe we will get that fascinating midfield match up as Bissouma comes up against Phillips’ England partner, Declan Rice.
Rice Rice Baby is one of those players who you do not realise quite how good they are until you watch them live. The Amazon Prime cameras may not pick up what happens between Rice and Bissouma but for those in attendance at the London Stadium, it is sure to be worth keeping an eye on – and could prove to be pivotal to the outcome.
Recent form
It has been a bit of a mixed bag form wise for West Ham in their last six. They became the first side to boot City out of the League Cup since Theresa May was Prime Minister when winning a penalty shoot out following a 0-0 draw at the London Stadium.
A 4-1 win at Villa then hastened the end of Dean Smith’s reign and they sparked a wonderful meltdown from Jurgen Klopp when becoming the first team to defeat Liverpool in the Premier League this season.
Since knocking off the Redmen though, they have lost to both Wolves and City. Speak to most West Ham fans and they are not expecting their form to improve when Brighton arrive in Stratford owing to the Albion’s ridiculous recent record against the Hammers.
- 28/11/21: Man City 2-1 West Ham
- 25/11/21: Rapid Vienna 0-2 West Ham
- 20/11/21: Wolves 1-0 West Ham
- 07/11/21: West Ham 3-2 Liverpool
- 04/11/21: Genk 2-2 West Ham
- 31/10/21: Aston Villa 1-4 West Ham
- 27/10/21: West Ham 0-0 Man City
Of course, that ridiculous recent record will count for absolutely nothing unless the Albion can find a way to put the ball in the back of the net.
Eight games without a win and the only goals from open play in the past seven Premier League matches came in the 2-2 draw at Anfield. Brighton still being in the top 10 after that wretched run is a bigger shock than Stacey Slater marrying a woman in prison.
- 27/11/21: Brighton 0-0 The Leeds United
- 20/11/21: Aston Villa 2-0 Brighton
- 06/11/21: Brighton 1-1 Newcastle
- 30/10/21: Liverpool 2-2 Brighton
- 27/10/21: Leicester 2-2 Brighton
- 23/10/21: Brighton 1-4 Man City
- 16/10/21: Norwich 0-0 Brighton
Last time we met
A pretty uneventful 80 minutes between Brighton and West Ham at the Amex in May gave way to a dramatic final 10. Danny Welbeck gave the Albion the lead on 84 when latching onto a brilliant through ball from Percy Tau (in the name of the Lion of Judah, amen!)
The Seagulls’ joy was short lived however as 195 seconds later, Benrahma equalised with a brilliant strike. A 1-1 draw was no good to anyone; it effectively ended the Hammers’ hopes of Champions League football and left the Albion struggling to better their 15th placed finish of the previous season.
West Ham v Brighton head-to-head
There have been 69 previous meetings between West Ham and Brighton across 10 competitions. The Hammers lead the overall head-to-head with 30 wins compared to Brighton’s 17, leaving 22 draws.
The majority of those West Ham victories come from wartime football, where the Hammers were successful 11 times out of 12. The one other game ended in a draw. West Ham plundered 44 goals at an average of nearly four a match whilst the Albion managed 17.
A look at the top flight head-to-head makes for much better reading. Five Brighton wins, five draws and a solitary West Ham victory means that Hammers fans look forward to facing the Albion about as much as Ian Beale enjoyed his dinner when Sharon was poisoning him in revenge for his part in the death of Dennis.
A reason why West Ham will win
Nothing lasts forever, not even the marriage between Den and Angie Watts. West Ham will end their terrible run against Brighton at some point and given that the Albion cannot score for love nor money currently – let alone win a game – this is arguably the best chance the Hammers have had for some time.
A reason why Brighton will win
Nothing lasts forever, not even the marriage between Ricky Butcher and Bianca Jackson. Brighton will put the ball in the back of the net from open play at some point and they might even win a game again before the year is out.
Given the amount of joy that fixtures with West Ham have provided since promotion to the Premier League, this is arguably the best chance the Albion have of breaking out of their barren form.
West Ham v Brighton betting
Since Potter was appointed as Brighton manager, no team has drawn more Premier League games than the Albion. This looks like a prime candidate to end in another stalemate. The draw is available at 13/5.
Predictions
Prediction of score: West Ham 1-1 Brighton
Will Albion fans boo at any point: No
