Overview
West Ham are in an unstable form at the moment. In the last 4 matches, coach Julen Lopetegui's team has only won once against the second-to-last team Wolves, and suffered 2 defeats against Arsenal and Leicester City. Even more disappointing, they were held to a draw by Bournemouth after conceding a goal in the 90th minute.
This inconsistent run of results has left the Hammers languishing in the bottom half of the table as the Premier League has passed the halfway mark.
Meanwhile, after two consecutive victories against Manchester City and Bournemouth, Brighton are showing signs of fatigue. The Amex team has gone four consecutive matches without a win, including two losses and two draws.
In the most recent match last weekend, coach Fabian Hurzerler's team was easily defeated 3-1 by Crystal Palace at home.
West Ham and Brighton have one thing in common at the moment: a shaky defense. In the last 5 matches, both teams have conceded 10 goals (an average of 2 goals/match).
The number of goals conceded by both sides since the beginning of the tournament is almost equal (West Ham conceded 29 goals, Brighton conceded 25 goals). Therefore, the upcoming match between the two teams is likely to have many goals.
Since Brighton were promoted to the Premier League in 2017, West Ham have been their favourite opponents. In 14 games against the Hammers, Brighton have lost just once.
West Ham can take some consolation from the fact that their only win in that run came last season.
Human resources situation
West Ham's Carlos Soler will miss this match due to suspension, so Niclas Fullkrug is likely to start for the home team.
On the other side of the front line, Brighton will be without at least five players for this match, including Danny Welbeck and James Milner. Meanwhile, the possibility of Joel Veltman returning is still open.
Expected lineup:
West Ham: Fabianski, Coufal, Mavropanos, Kilman, Wan-Bissaka, Alvarez, Soucek, Bowen, Paqueta, Kudus, Fullkrug.
Brighton: Verbruggen, Lamptey, Van Hecke, Dunk, Estupinan, Baleba, Ayari, Minteh, Rutter, Mitoma, Pedro.
The match between West Ham and Brighton takes place at 22:00 on December 21 (Vietnam time).
