Brighton and Hove Albion Match Preview

David Moyes led West Ham United to their first ever Premier League win over Brighton and Hove Albion last season and the Claret and Blue Army will hope that their team can repeat that feat when they go to The American Express Stadium this afternoon.

The large home crowd were expecting their team to achieve their first double of the season when they faced already-relegated Southampton in Stratford last weekend but they were disappointed to see the Saints leave with a point, as the game ended 1-1. The visitors will hope they can atone for that result and claim a   first success since February which will hopefully see them move back up the table.

This is a place that Graham Potter knows very well and here’s hoping that he can find a formula that will enable the Irons to find a way past his former club and finally earn him what would only be a fourth victory since he arrived in East London in January.

It would be fair to say that the Seagulls are not currently in scintillating form either, as Fabian Hürzeler’s side are on a five-match run without a victory themselves and come into this game off the back of handing Brentford their first home triumph since the Bees beat Newcastle United 4-2 back on December 7.

It will be interesting to see who comes away with the three points from this encounter, as both need them for different reasons but whoever prevails can hopefully build some momentum for the final four games of the season.

The visitors have already picked up four points from their two previous trips to the South Coast this campaign, while they were under the stewardship of Julen Lopetegui. They won their first meeting with the Saints 1-0 at St Mary’s and ten days prior to that victory in Hampshire, they went to Dorset to face AFC Bournemouth and brought a point back to East London, thanks to a late share of the spoils.

The Hammers will hope to have Aaron Wan-Bissaka available again, after he missed last weekend’s match against the men from Hampshire, due to having had an injection in his toe. If he is fit and returns to the side however, then Vladimír Coufal will make way for him. Konstantinos Mavropanos could come back into defence.

Tomáš Souček is hoping to be back in contention after only serving as a substitute for the last two outings.

Potter named captain Jarrod Bowen and Niclas Füllkrug in the starting line-up a week ago and he looks likely to stick with that system again.

The Head-Coach revealed in his pre-match news conference ahead of facing the Seagulls that midfielder Edson Álvarez will not feature in the matchday squad here as he continues to recover from the back injury that kept him out of last weekend’s contest.

Evan Ferguson will not be available for this fixture, as he joined the Hammers on a season-long loan from the Seagulls at the end of the winter transfer window.

The match is a 3pm kick-off and the referee is Darren England.