Our live stream ahead of Sundays Premier League match, West Ham vs Brighton is now up and running, kicking off at 14.15 GMT
You can keep an eye on the commentary as it happens below, but first, we take a preview into the fixture, lineups, predictions and much more…
The Hammers will be looking to return to winning ways in the Premier League, having lost 3-0 at Chelsea on Monday night.
David Moyes’s side are currently 10th in the table, just five points behind fourth-placed Everton, but the capital side are also just three points clear of 13th-placed Crystal Palace, which is an indication of how quickly things could change in this season’s unpredictable Premier League.
Brighton, meanwhile, will enter this weekend’s contest off the back of successive draws with Fulham and Sheffield United, which followed defeats to Southampton and Leicester City.
The Seagulls have not won in the league since overcoming Aston Villa on November 21, and a return of 12 points from 14 matches has left them in 17th spot, just two points outside of the relegation zone.
Brighton’s recent record against West Ham will hand them confidence, though, and they have actually performed better on their travels this season, picking up eight of their 12 points away from the Amex.
The two clubs last met in February, with Brighton battling back from 3-1 down to draw 3-3 at the London Stadium…
PRESS CONFERENCE:
David Moyes
On the latest COVID-19 related protocols in the Premier League…
“It’s a really difficult time for everybody. What I will say is that we’re really privileged being in a position where we’re tested and looked after.”
“They’re doing an incredible job, the Premier League, in getting us safe to play the games, but I sympathise with everybody else.”
“We have to get rid of this virus. I just hope that everybody’s incredibly careful, especially over Christmas time.”
On Michail Antonio’s recovery from injury and his potential plans for the January transfer market…
“Michy’s back on the grass training. We’ll hopefully get him back as quick as we can. We can’t say exactly when that will be. He’s coming on well so hopefully that won’t be too long.”
“As far as January goes, we don’t have any big intentions of making signings, but the owners have said they would help if we need it. Obviously that’ll be to do with injuries or anything else that crops up.”
“If we need it, we’ll try and go and get it, but talking about January, it’s not always a great market.”
“We’ll continue trying to build a squad, but more importantly a good team. It’s not always the case that you can get the players you want or the players are available.”
On new signing Frederik Alves…
“He’s a young boy from Denmark we had our eye on in the summer. We weren’t able to do it then. He’s come in for just over a million pounds, so it’s a little bit of business to help our younger group.”
“He’s somebody with potential – probably not for just now, but hopefully he’ll come good in the future.”
On reflections from the Chelsea game…
“We’re always looking to make improvements and obviously we don’t like losing. Overall the players did a lot of good things in the game, but we just didn’t defend our box well enough at moments we should’ve done, and around their box we weren’t clean and clinical.”
“We’ve had a really good year and we’ll continue trying to make progress. I think we’ve shown we’re better than we were [at the start of the year]. Hopefully we can keep being positive and playing well.”
On reflecting on the course of 2020…
“I think it was a big satisfaction to come back and keep West Ham up, because it was a difficult situation. Bournemouth and Norwich were pushing to stay up and it made it hard for us.”
“The biggest pleasing thing for me was how the players have come back and the group have got better. We’ve made progress in lots of ways and the players have done well.”
“There’s a real team spirit and togetherness around the Club and we’re just looking to pull that together now and build on that.”
On his players’ journey over 2020…
“When you’ve got yourself competing against all the top sides and not looking out of place, you’d have to say ‘well done.'”We’ve had players playing as well as anybody in the country.”
“We’ve had some big improvements. I think from the players’ point of view, they have to be pleased with what they’ve done. We have to keep pushing for more.”
On Graham Potter and Brighton…
“I think Brighton have given Graham Potter the opportunity to do what he’s doing. They’ve got a good recruitment policy and they’re building.”
“It might take a bit of time to get them in a stable position, but they have a team full of good players. I think they play good football and it’s going to be a tough game for us.”
Graham Potter
On significance of West Ham game…
“It seems we go from week to week with games being vital and incredibly important and that’s just the language that surrounds the games,”
“All the games are vital, all the games are important – that’s the truth.”
“We’re in the toughest league in the world and we’re fighting for every single point.”
“When you have that narrative, every game is vital and every game is important and we want to approach the game in that manner.”
On table accurately reflecting their efforts…
“The reality of it is you score the goals you score, and the opposition score the goals they score,”
“While that happens, you don’t deserve anything, other than what you get.”
“I think our performances have been quite positive and if you have a bit more luck then maybe things change but, while you haven’t got that, there’s no point feeling sorry for yourself, or complaining about anything.”
“We’ve got to be pragmatic in terms of that.”
“Everybody has to make their own analysis of what we’ve done and our performances versus results but what we’re focusing on is how we can improve our situation, that’s it.”
“That’s where the work is and that’s what we’re trying to focus on.”
FORM:
West Ham United Premier League form: WWLWDL
Brighton & Hove Albion Premier League form: WDLLDD
LINEUPS:
West Ham United possible starting lineup:
Fabianski; Coufal, Balbuena, Ogbonna, Cresswell; Rice, Soucek; Fornals, Benrahma, Bowen; Haller
Brighton & Hove Albion possible starting lineup:
Sanchez; White, Dunk, Webster; Veltman, Bissouma, Lallana, March; Maupay, Connolly, Trossard
THATSAGOAL:
West Ham to Win – 13/10 with FanTeam
West Ham are unrecognisable from the side that was fighting off relegation last season. The likes of Czech duo Thomas Soucek and Vladamir Coufal have helped transform the side into a contender for a top-half finish and beyond.
Brighton meanwhile, have shown a lot of promise but not much substance. The Seagulls have made a habit of conceding from set-pieces and were recently exposed on the counter by ten-man Sheffield United. They will need to toughen up considerably to avoid being sucked into the relegation zone.
Time to take a look at our West Ham vs Brighton live match stream as it happens…
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