Fabian Hurzeler has come under a lot of pressure as Brighton & Hove Albion are on the verge of bowing out of contention for a European place at the end of the season ahead of the game against West Ham United. They desperately need a win in their next game to stay in some level of contention, but a defeat or more dropped points could potentially end any lingering hopes of continental football for next season.
Brighton were in the mix to make one of the continental competitions a few weeks ago, but it’s been nearly one and a half months since their supporters have seen their team win in any competitions. The Seagulls are on a dreadful run of five winless games in the Premier League, and six across all competition if the FA Cup exit was to be included.
Last weekend they were battered by Brentford, and before that, they were pegged back by a Leicester City side that had failed to score in eight Premier League games. Hurzeler is under increasing pressure to bring a respectable end to a campaign that packed plenty of promise in the early parts, as some more bad results could potentially make the club’s board rethink their decision to install him as the club’s manager.
Meanwhile, West Ham United are in a similar boat to their next opponent Brighton, as Graham Potter’s side have gone six games without a win as things stand. Last weekend, they were very close to winning against a relegated Southampton side only for midfielder Lesley Ugochukwue to find an equaliser in the dying stages of the game.
Much like Hurzeler, the rather experienced Graham Potter has plenty of questions to answer as the pressure is truly on him having failed to bring any improvements to this team since taking over as their manager. West Ham are currently 17th in the league, and while they are out of danger of getting relegated, fans are still hoping to have a good enough finish to their season, as Potter will hope for a result against Brighton.
Hurzeler has a rather long list of absentees to deal with ahead of the weekend’s game with West Ham, with Jan Paul van Hecke unlikely to return after a head injury last time out. Concussion protocols will ensure his absence, as he joins at least eight other first-team stars on the sidelines.
Among those Jiel Veltman and James Milner are back in training and the former might be available in some capacity but not as a starter. The big blow would be the absence of key attacker Joao Pedro after his sending-off against Brentford, as Kaoru Mitoma is likely to replace the Brazilian from last weekend.
Eiran Cashin is the likely candidate to replace Van Hecke in the starting lineup and partner up with Lewis Dunk in central defence. Mats Wieffer should deputise as a right-back, while Carlos Baleba and Jack Hinshelwood should form a midfield partnership.
Yankuba Minteh and Matt O’Riley should be part of the attacking setup, with Danny Welbeck leading the line for Brighton.
Probable Lineip (4-2-3-1) – Verbruggen; Wieffer, Cashin, Dunk, Estupinan; Baleba, Hinshelwood; Minteh, O’Riley, Mitoma; Welbeck
West Ham does not have too many injury-led absentees, but there are those set to be assessed before the game to determine their availability. Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Edson Alvarez are on that boat, while the likes of Vladimir Coufal could replace the former if he was deemed unfit for this trip to Brighton.
The other absentees are all long-term candidates including Michail Antonio and Crysencio Summerville, while Aaron Cresswell is missing out with a muscle problem.
Moreover, on-loan striker Evan Ferguson will miss out due to being ineligible to face his parent club. In any case, the Irish international has been a bit-part player for the Hammers and wouldn’t have started if he was indeed available.
Carlos Soler could edge out Tomas Soucek to partner with James Ward-Prowse for the central midfield berths. Mohammed Kudus and Lucas Paqueta could regularly swap places between the central and left positions, with Niclas Fullkrug the favourite to lead the line for the Hammers.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1) – Areola; Coufal, Todibo, Kilman, Scarles; Soler, Ward-Prowse; Bowen, Kudus, Paqueta; Fullkrug
Brighton are winless in their last 5 matches in the Premier League.
Brighton have conceded at least 2 goals in their last 5 matches in the Premier League.
Brighton are undefeated in 14 of their last 15 matches against West Ham in all competitions.
West Ham are winless in their last 6 games in the Premier League.
West Ham have lost back-to-back away games in the Premier League.
Embed from Getty Imageswindow.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:’1xbmndzPReJ7OsIgSaPLrg’,sig:’mA1kdER729U4TSdW9a5K0SV_HHHfapLKgeu49R51jos=’,w:’594px’,h:’396px’,items:’2208671430′,caption: true ,tld:’com’,is360: false })});
Having had a first season in English football worth forgetting, Fullkrug was in the news following his comments on his teammates following the draw with Southampton. The German striker has had an injury-ravaged season but has hit form of late with a goal and an assist in the last four games.
However, those comments following the draw with Southampton did not put the spotlight on the German striker to do his talking on the pitch. Whether he will deliver and silence his doubters remains a big question, but he certainly has a significant opportunity to showcase his class against a Brighton side that continues to struggle like his West Ham team.
These are two teams coming into this clash under big pressure to improve their current form and get a positive result under the bag. However, with neither team having the required momentum, particularly Brighton, their home advantage may not count for anything in this clash.
West Ham are also not in the best of form, with their inability to beat Southampton likely to play a part when it comes to mentality. While either side can clinch a win on Saturday, the safest bet would be to predict an uneventful draw at the Amex.
