Brighton will be looking to continue their bright start to the season with another home win over West Ham on Saturday. Here is a preview of the action.

High-flying Brighton & Hove Albion will be looking to keep their brilliant form so far in the 2023/24 Premier League season when they welcome UEFA Europa Conference League champions West Ham United on Saturday 26th August.

Roberto De Zerbi is relishing life in his first full season as Brighton boss after a 4-1 win over Luton Town on the opening weekend. Their first home game showed more of the same thrilling football we saw under the Italian last term as they were relentless against the newly-promoted Hatters.

De Zerbi has made some minor changes to the squad over the summer as they begin their first-ever foray into European football. Having now put an authoritative stamp on this Brighton team, they will be keen to impress against a side that have reached consecutive European semi-finals.

They warmed up for the season with only one win from their four pre-season games but Brighton seem to have suffered no hangovers based on their opening matches.

Although the visitors ultimately triumphed in a dramatic Europa Conference League final last season, West Ham had an underwhelming domestic campaign that saw them face a late battle against relegation. The preparations for the current campaign were also less than ideal with the big-money sale of club captain, Declan Rice, made worse by the fact that incomings have been in short supply.

After the Hammers went winless in their final three pre-season games, the opening-day draw with Bournemouth laid bare their problems in competitive action. They will hope to face Brighton with a much better squad than the one that started the season.

Indeed, the recent tussle for the signature of Mohammed Kudus is sure to add spice to the occasion given the Ghana international was seemingly on his way to the AMEX before choosing to join West Ham instead.

Match tickets

The match at the beautiful American Express Stadium kicks off at 5:30 pm UK time on Saturday, 26 August 2023 and you can get Brighton vs West Ham tickets on each individual club’s website.

Every home game under De Zerbi is a must-watch given the breathless attacking football is guaranteed to earn the entrance fee. This is likely to be another sell-out match in Sussex which means match tickets will be in high demand for fans of the home side.

For those who won’t take no for an answer, you might be lucky enough to get a seat for West Ham via ticket reselling sites if you still want to watch the Premier League encounter live.

Team news

James Milner, Bart Verbruggen, Igor Julio, Joao Pedro, Mahmoud Dahoud and Simon Adingra are just some of the names that have been recruited this summer with a few more set to join Brighton in the coming weeks.

The hosts have an almost full-strength squad, save for Jakub Moder who remains the only long-term absentee due to a cruciate ligament damage. Meanwhile, Adam Webster and Adam Lallana are expected to return to the matchday squad for this game.

David Moyes’ side have a huge void in midfield left by their former captain and they could yet lose another key player in Brazilian playmaker Lucas Paqueta before the transfer deadline. Hammers will be relieved to have finally secured the services of James Ward-Prowse and Edson Alvarez in recent weeks.

West Ham’s latest signings will provide an immediate boost of quality and Moyes will look to quickly integrate them into his lineup.

Line-ups

Dahoud is expected to continue his role alongside Pascal Gross in the centre of Brighton’s midfield after replacing new Chelsea man Moises Caicedo.

Adingra’s impressive showings have caught the eye as he properly introduced himself to the AMEX crowd with a lively cameo and debut goal against Luton. De Zerbi now has a welcome headache in trying to fit the Ivorian with Kaoru Mitoma in the same attack.

Brighton: Steele; Milner, van Hecke, Dunk, Estupiñán; Groß, Dahoud; March, Pedro, Mitoma; Welbeck

Ward-Prowse is expected to immediately settle into the West Ham midfield given his leadership, steel and lethal ability at set-pieces which Moyes would be keen to exploit.

The London side do not make too many changes to their starting eleven who they hope can weather the storm of a very attack-minded team and cause an away upset.

West Ham: Areola; Coufal, Zouma, Aguerd, Emerson; Soucek, Ward-Prowse; Bowen, Fornals, Benrahma, Antonio.

Prediction

Brighton are unbeaten against West Ham since their promotion to the Premier League in 2017-18 and the Seagulls have won their last three meetings in a row by an aggregate score of 9-1. Given that they had the most shots in the opening weekend, De Zerbi’s men are still at their dangerous best.

West Ham are now winless in their last four league games away from home and there is little to suggest that could change considering they were thumped 4-0 the last time they travelled to Brighton in March. Expect an end-to-end encounter resulting in another goal-fest.

Brighton 3-1 West Ham