Brighton and Hove Albion Match Preview

Having previously lost back-to-back top-flight games to end November, West Ham United will now be looking to begin December by bouncing back from consecutive away defeats with a double-header of matches in East London, starting with Brighton and Hove Albion’s arrival in Stratford tonight for the first midweek fixture programme of the season.

The Hammers will be hoping to clinch a first ever top-flight win over Graham Potter’s Seagulls since the visitors were promoted to the Premier League in the 2017/18 campaign.

The visitors will be the fresher of the two sides, given that they have had one extra day to prepare ahead of this game.

This may be a good time to face the men from Sussex, as they have not won a league match since the 2-1 home victory over Leicester City way back on 19 September.

Aaron Cresswell will face a late fitness test to see if he is fit enough to feature here after suffering a back injury at The Etihad Stadium three days ago. If the defender doesn’t make the matchday squad, then Vladimír Coufal will be the most likely to take his place.

Arthur Masuaku was preferred to Jarrod Bowen for the weekend’s trip to Manchester but the winger could return to the starting line-up here.

Following his last-minute goal on Sunday, Manuel Lanzini will be hoping to earn a starting place if David Moyes decides to make further changes, particularly with Saturday’s game against current leaders Chelsea in mind.

The match is a 7:30pm kick-off with live coverage being screened by Amazon Prime Video from 6:30pm. The referee is Christopher Kavanagh.