West Ham-Brighton is a match of the 20th day of the Premier League and is played on Tuesday at 8:30pm: TV, probable formations, predictions.
The most “broken” day of the Premier League ends with the match between two teams in the middle of the fight for a place in Europe, West Ham and Brighton. Ahead, in the standings, we find the Hammers, with 33 points.
The Londoners right now are leading that group that is trying to get back into the race for the top five places – the Premier League will almost certainly qualify one more club for the next expanded Champions League – but the distance to fifth-placed Tottenham is six points after Spurs’ success over Bournemouth on New Year’s Day. David Moyes’ men, however, are going through a particularly positive moment: after the very ugly derby defeat to Fulham, a heavy 5-0, West Ham has strung together three wins in a row between Wolverhampton, Manchester United and Arsenal, interspersed with the League Cup debacle against Liverpool. The elimination from the domestic cup has in any case faded into the background, especially thanks to the prestigious successes against the Red Devils and Gunners, the latter beaten 2-0 in their fortress at Emirates Stadium.
Brighton suffers on the road
It has 3 points less Brighton, which is more erratic this year than the Hammers: the double commitment between the league and Europa League has made the Seagulls’ path more circuitous.
Roberto De Zerbi’s team remains a loose cannon, however, and in the last round they smashed four goals off Tottenham (4-2), showing flashes of great soccer. So far Brighton has particularly suffered away from home, where the performance remains mixed: three wins, two draws and four defeats. The other problem that is plaguing the Italian coach is a defense that continues to concede too many goals: it is by far the most beaten (33 goals conceded) among teams occupying the top ten places in the English top league. Always very long is the list of injuries at Brighton: Dunk is disqualified, while Lallana will take the place of Buonanotte, who was injured in training. Heavy instead is the absence of Paquetà in West Ham: the Brazilian was injured in the challenge with Arsenal.
The prediction
We cannot overlook the excellent moment of form of West Ham, which within a few days took the scalps of Manchester United and Arsenal. The Hammers start slightly favored in this direct clash with a Brighton side that does not shine away and gives no guarantees defensively: at least three goals overall.
The probable lineups of West Ham-Brighton
WEST HAM (4-2-3-1): Areola; Coufal, Ogbonna, Mavropanos, Emerson Palmieri; Soucek, Alvarez; Kudus, Ward-Prowse, Benrahma; Bowen.
BRIGHTON (4-3-1-2): Verbruggen; Milner, Hinshelwood, van Hecke, Estupinan; Gross, Gilmour, Baleba; Lallana; Ferguson, Joao Pedro.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 2-1
