West Ham United will host Brighton & Hove Albion on Monday, looking to continue their impressive run of form.
West Ham United are on a three-match winning run in the Premier League, and they will look to close in on the top-four positions with a positive result against Brighton & Hove Albion. The Hammers are sixth in the league table, and they will be pushing for European qualification this season, and they need to win games like these.
Brighton are eighth in the standings, and they ended their losing run with a win over Tottenham Hotspur last week. The win over the North London club would have given them an immense confidence boost, and they will look to put together a winning run now. It will be interesting to see if they can grind out a morale-boosting away result here.
Team News & Tactics
West Ham United
The Hammers will be without Lucas Paqueta, who picked up an injury in his last outing. Michail Antonio remains sidelined with an injury. Mohammed Kudus is away on Ghana duty, with his national team calling him early for the Africa Cup of Nations.
West Ham United will start in a 4-2-3-1 formation against Brighton & Hove Albion, with Alphonse Areola in goal. Vladimir Coufal and Emerson Palmieri will start as the full-backs. The two players will look to help out in the final third and protect the central defenders. Konstantinos Mavropanos will start at the heart of the defence alongside Angelo Ogbonna.
As for the midfield unit, Edson Alvarez will start alongside Tomas Soucek in the double pivot. The two players will look to add physicality and defensive cover to the midfield. James Ward-Prowse will start in the central attacking midfield role, and he will look to create goal-scoring opportunities for his teammates.
Said Benrahma and Pablo Fornals will be deployed in the wide areas. Finally, Jarrod Bowen will lead the line for West Ham against Brighton & Hove Albion.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Areola; Coufal, Mavropanos, Ogbonna, Palmieri; Soucek, Alvarez; Fornals, Ward-Prowse, Benrahma; Bowen
Brighton & Hove Albion
The Seagulls have a number of injury problems heading into this contest, and they will be without several first-team stars. Ansu Fati, Simon Adingra and Tariq Lamptey are ruled out with thigh injuries. Julio Enciso, Joel Veltman and Solly March will miss out with knee injuries.
Kaoru Mitoma misses out with an ankle injury, and Lewis Dunk is suspended after picking up five yellow cards. Brighton & Hove Albion will shape up in a 4-1-3-2 formation against West Ham United, with Bart Verbruggen in goal.
Jack Hinshelwood and Pervis Estupinan will start as the full-backs. The two players will look to protect the defence and help out during counter-attacks. Jan Paul van Hecke will start alongside Igot Julio in the central defensive unit.
Billy Gilmour will start as the central defensive midfielder here, and he will look to mop up the opposition attacks and protect the central defenders. Adam Lallana should feature as the central attacking midfielder, with James Milner and Pascal Gross alongside him. The two players will look to dominate possession and control the game in the middle of the park. Danny Welbeck will lead the line for Brighton alongside Joao Pedro.
Probable Lineup (4-1-3-2): Verbruggen; Hinshelwood, Van Hecke, Igor, Estupinan; Gross, Lallana, Milner; Welbeck, Pedro
Key Stats
- West Ham United have kept a clean sheet in their last three matches in the Premier League. The Hammers have won their last three matches in the Premier League.
- Brighton & Hove Albion have scored at least two goals in five of their last six away matches against West Ham United in all competitions.
- 18 goals have been scored in the last six matches between these two sides.
- Brighton & Hove Albion are unbeaten in five of their last six meetings against West Ham United.
- Four of the last six meetings between these two teams have seen both of them get on the score sheet.
Player to Watch
Jarrod Bowen
The 27-year-old West Ham attacker has been in phenomenal form this season, scoring 11 goals in 18 league appearances. Bowen has produced a goal or an assist for West Ham in each of his last five outings, and the Hammers will need him to step up and find a way past the Brighton resistance here.
Prediction
West Ham United 1-1 Brighton & Hove Albion
Both teams will head into the game full of confidence, and this should be a cracking contest. West Ham are on a winning run and Brighton have the momentum as well after the win over Tottenham Hotspur. They are quite evenly matched on paper as well.
It will not be a surprise if the two teams cancel each other out in the end and share the spoils here. A draw seems quite likely. The Hard Tackle predicts a 1-1 draw between West Ham United and Brighton & Hove Albion on Monday.
it will be a west ham
win
How do u knw