Brighton & Hove Albion (BHA) meets West Ham United (WHU) in their penultimate home game of the 2020-21 English Premier League (EPL) season. The Seagulls confirmed their safety after Fulham failed to pick up points against Burnley on Tuesday. Meanwhile, West Ham has an outside chance of securing a UEFA Champions League spot. They need to win all of their last three games and hope Chelsea and Liverpool fail to win any of their respective remaining fixtures.
Relieved Brighton
It has been another chaotic campaign for Brighton, but they managed to avoid relegation for a fourth consecutive season. Graham Potter’s men struggled for consistency as they grabbed just three home wins from 17 matches. The performance against Wolves, in their last league fixture, summed up Brighton’s season. They took the lead in the first half but conceded two late goals to slump to a 14th league defeat.
Tired Hammers
West Ham, who lost three of their last four matches, is running out of steam. The absence of first-team regulars – Michail Antonio, Aaron Cresswell, and Declan Rice – in the crucial games against Chelsea and Newcastle United, too, haven’t helped their cause. Jesse Lingard, who hasn’t scored a goal in the last three games, is key to West Ham’s hopes of a European football next season. If the Manchester United loanee can find his scoring boots, the Hammers will seal a top-six finish.
Previous meeting: WHU 2-2 BHA (Goalscorers: B Johnson & T Soucek; N Maupay & L Dunk)
Match facts
- Brighton is unbeaten in seven English Premier League games against West Ham – won three and drew four matches
- Brighton midfielder Pascal Gross registered three assists and two goals in six matches against West Ham
- Manuel Lanzini has two assists in his last three league appearances against Brighton
- Brighton has won two of their last three home matches in the league – 2-0 vs Leeds United & 3-0 vs Newcastle United
English Premier League 2020-21 stats
Top Goalscorer: BHA – N Maupay (8 goals); WHU – M Antonio, J Lingard, & T Soucek (9 goals)
Most Assists: BHA – P Gross (7 assists); WHU – A Cresswell (7 assists)
Most Clean Sheets: BHA – R Sanchez (10 clean sheets); WHU – L Fabianski (9 clean sheets)
Injuries/Suspensions
BHA: L Dunk (suspended), N Maupay (suspended), T Lamptey (injured), S March (injured), J Veltman (doubtful), D Propper (doubtful)
WHU: A Masuaku Kawela, (doubtful), M Noble (doubtful), M Lanzini (doubtful)
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Parameswaran Sankaranarayanan
Parameswaran Sankaranarayan is a sports enthusiast who has worked in print, website, and other digital platforms. He was part of the editorial team of first-ever Indian football-based website - IndianFootball.com (now defunct) - and passionately follows the latest happenings in world football. During his time as a journalist, he had the opportunity to interact with some of the iconic personalities in Indian sports and witness some memorable moments in Indian football.
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