Brighton welcome West Ham to the south coast in the hope of continuing their dream start to the new Premier League season.
The Seagulls are sat at the top of the table after dominating in their opening fixtures, winning 4-1 against both Luton and Wolves.
4
Robert De Zerbi has his side playing some incredible football and after losing Moises Caicedo, they have not been phased at all.
The Hammers are their next opponents and David Moyes’ men will be out to put an end to the hype at the Amex.
James Ward-Prowse provided two assists on his debut during a 3-1 win over Chelsea last time out and the Londoners will be hoping to build on that impressive victory.
Brighton vs West Ham: How to follow
This Premier League clash will take place on Satuday, August 26.
Kick-off at the Amex Stadium is scheduled for 5:30pm.
The game will be broadcast live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League with coverage beginnning at 5pm.
talkSPORT will also have updates of all the action on the South Coast.
To tune in to talkSPORT or talkSPORT 2 through the website, click HERE for the live stream.
You can also listen via the talkSPORT app, on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.
4
Brighton vs West Ham: Teams
Brighton: Verbruggen, Webster, Dunk, Estupinan, Milner, Gilmour, Gross, Welbeck, March, Mitoma, Ferguson
Subs: Steele, Julio, Dahoud, Joao Pedro, Lallana, Adingra, Van Hecke, Veltman, Buonanotte
West Ham: Areola, Coufal, Zouma, Ogbonna, Emerson, Ward-Prowse, Alvarez, Soucek, Paqueta, Bowen, Antonio
Subs: Fabianski, Johnson, Cresswell, Fornals, Cornet, Ings, Benrahma, Kehrer, Mubama
4
Brighton vs West Ham: What has been said?
Mitoma scored a stunning solo goal against Wolves to open his account and the Brighton winger has looked back on his strike.
He said: “The moment I dribbled past the first challenge I found space.
“While dribbling, I was like ‘maybe I’ll go through’, in terms of my speed, plus they were late to cover, which was pretty lucky too
“I wanted to do something the opponent won’t like. The quality was great and in terms of dribbling, I think I stood out which was good.
“My goal and assists so far are just a number which will not matter for the upcoming game. I have to try and score like that again.”
Addressing March’s goals too, he continued: “The head coach did say we did really well, however, March has scored twice so I have to keep up!
“But he [De Zerbi] has told us more about the one goal we lost against Wolves, so we have to brush up our quality as we are always aiming for the top.”
4
Brighton vs West Ham: Match facts
- 19-year-old Julio Enciso has been directly involved in eight goals in his last 14 Premier League appearances (4 goals, 4 assists). As well as registering two assists, he completed six dribbles in the 4-1 win over Wolves, the youngest non-Englishman to do so in a Premier League game since Adnan Januzaj in May 2014 for Man Utd against Hull (7).
- Brighton’s Solly March has been involved in 15 goals in his last 19 Premier League starts (10 goals, 5 assists) and is looking to score in three consecutive top-flight appearances for the first time. He could also become the first Seagulls player to score in their first three matches in a top-flight season.
- James Ward-Prowse assisted two goals on his Premier League debut for West Ham against Chelsea, the first ever player to get two assists on his Hammers debut in the competition. The only player to assist in his first two appearances for West Ham is Thomas Hitzlsperger in 2011.
- West Ham manager David Moyes is still looking for his first Premier League win over Brighton, failing in eight attempts so far (D4 L4), with the Seagulls one of two teams he’s faced without defeating, along with Brentford (P4 L4). Moyes has beaten 40 different opponents, with only Arsène Wenger (46), Alex Ferguson (44) and Harry Redknapp (41) beating more different teams.
- Teenage players have either scored or assisted 30 goals in the Premier League in 2023, with 18 of those coming via Brighton players (11 goals, 7 assists). The last team to have more goal involvements from teenagers in a single year was Manchester United in 2005 (15 goals, 5 assists).
- Having netted four goals in each of their first two Premier League games this season, Brighton are looking to become only the fourth side in English top-flight history to score 4+ goals in their first three games of a season, after Everton in 1890-91, Sheffield Wednesday in 1931-32 and Blackburn in 1958-59.
- West Ham United won 3-1 against Chelsea last time out and are looking to win consecutive Premier League games for the first time since October, when they beat Wolves and Fulham.
- Brighton have won their opening two Premier League matches this season, scoring four goals in each win (4-1 vs Luton, 4-1 vs Wolves). They haven’t won their opening three league games in a season since 2011-12 in the Championship, while the Seagulls haven’t won three league games in a row since October 2018, with this their 15th run of two wins in a row since that three-game streak.
- West Ham’s last league win against Brighton was a 6-0 home victory in April 2012 in the Championship, while their last away league win against them was in October of the same season (1-0).
- Brighton have lost none of their 12 Premier League meetings with West Ham (W6 D6) – it’s both the most they’ve faced a side without ever losing and the most the Hammers have faced a side without ever winning in the competition.
The new talkSPORT match centre
Keep up-to-date with all the latest football fixtures, results and standings in our new match centre.