West Ham have fresh hope of survival despite late heartbreak at Brighton

Good afternoon, and welcome to live coverage of Brighton and Hove Albion vs West Ham United from the Premier League, as the visitors look to climb out of the relegation zone. West Ham start the day in 18th, three points adrift of Leeds United and Nottingham Forest, but are guaranteed to go above the latter with victory on the South Coast this afternoon. 

The 1-1 draw away at Manchester United on Thursday means Nuno Espirito Santo’s side are winless in their last three league games, having been held to a point by Bournemouth before losing at home to Liverpool. But they are proving tough to beat, having lost just one of their last five, thanks to victories over Newcastle United and Burnley at the start of November.

However, they have had little success over Brighton in the Premier League, winning just one of their 16 meetings and losing eight, and Fabien Hurzeler’s men will be incentivised by the potential of climbing to fifth this afternoon. The South Coast side start the day in 10th, as one of four sides on 22 points, but can leapfrog five teams with another victory over West Ham.

Brighton are generally resolute on home soil, but their 4-3 defeat against Aston Villa on Wednesday ended their 10-match unbeaten run at the Amex. They had established a two-goal advantage over Unai Emery’s side, but saw the game turn on its head as Villa took a two-goal lead of their own before Brighton added a third late on. 

West Ham will be boosted by the return of Lucas Paqueta from suspension following his red card against Liverpool, which came after two yellow cards in quick succession for dissent. Nuno has confirmed the Brazilian will start today, and in terms of Paqueta’s behaviour, the West Ham boss is “positive it will not happen again”.