Premier League: Seagulls and Hammers Aim for Bank Holiday Treat

Brighton & Hove Albion vs West Ham United

Saturday teatime’s Premier League encounter comes from the south coast and between two sides who have made encouraging starts to the new campaign.

Two teams who will be eagerly anticipating next week’s Europa League draw, a competition they qualified for at the expense of some of English football’s big guns last term.

Roberto De Zerbi and David Moyes have been rightly lauded for their achievements by the seaside and in the east end of London.

So, can they continue their rich vein of form and deliver more Premier League highlights this weekend?

Talking Points

Both teams come into this contest on the back of morale-boosting victories.

West Ham United claimed a rousing London derby win against big-spending Chelsea on Sunday afternoon, despite playing the final half hour with 10 men.

Defender Nayef Aguerd, who opened the scoring in that game, was dismissed for a second booking and will be suspended for the trip to south coast as a result.

New recruit Konstantinos Mavropanos, who joined from Stuttgart on Tuesday, is also nursing a minor injury and is not ready to make his debut, yet they otherwise should have a clean bill of health, including their other scorers in that match, Michail Antonio and Lucas Paqueta.

The latter will need to overcome his disappointment after a potential move to Manchester City was ended – or at least temporarily halted – while an investigation takes place into an alleged betting misdemeanour.

The main star in that victory though was new signing James Ward-Prowse who marked his home debut, following a £30 million move from Southampton, with two assists.

At that price, he could prove a snip for the east Londoners.

Brighton know all about value and transfer bargains.

Despite the high-profile summer departures of Alexis Mac Allister and Moises Caicedo this summer, they are showing no signs of slowing down, hitting Luton and Wolves each for four in their opening two games.

How much longer they can go on by selling their star men each year remains to be seen.

After last weekend’s success at Molineux, it was suggested that, while there may be room for improvement defensively, the team looks more than capable of matching – or even surpassing – last season’s sixth-place finish.

I’m not so sure, even before the news that talented teenager Julio Enciso, who himself set up two goals last weekend in a tireless all-round display, had sustained a potentially serious knee injury in training this week.

How much more De Zerbi can cope with is unknown but they continue to defy those with much bigger resources and stronger squads.

No-one would be surprised if they make it three wins out of three.

History

Believe it or not, West Ham have failed to defeat Brighton since they returned to the top flight in 2017.

In fact, you have to go back to the Championship in 2012 to the last time the Hammers were victorious in their match-ups.

On that occasion it was a romp, as West Ham hit Brighton for six without reply at Upton Park with a Ricardo Vaz Te hat-trick leading the way for a side which would be promoted via the play-offs.

Kevin Nolan and Carlton Cole (plus an own goal) grabbed the others

That was 12 games ago and Brighton have won six of them, including the last three.

This fixture last season saw Brighton secure their biggest ever victory over West Ham as a first half penalty from MacAllister was added to in the second period through Joel Veltman, Kaoru Mitoma and Danny Welbeck.

Brighton also won 2-0 at West Ham early last season when MacAllister again converted from the penalty spot and Leandro Trossard added a second.

The fact both players have now left the club shows how much of a success they have been. Graham Potter was also in charge that day before his ill-fated time at Chelsea.

Overall, the record could barely be much closer with 18 West Ham wins, 21 Brighton victories and 20 draws.

Their first ever clash – a 3-2 Brighton success – came in the Southern League First Division in 1903.

Betting Tip

There’s a distinct advantage for the home side with the SBOTOP Premier League betting odds.

In fact, the Seagulls could be described as red hot favourites to see off the Hammers.

The home side can be backed 1X2 @ 1.50 and Asian Handicap -1.50 @ 2.38, in contrast to David Moyes’ team who are priced 1X2 @ 5.20 and Asian Handicap +1.00 @ 2.06.

For goals, how about over 3.25 @ 2.11, Total Goal 2-3 @ 2.10, 4-6 @ 2.57 or 0-1 @ 5.20.

Given there hasn’t been a goalless draw between the teams since 1979, perhaps that latter option is worth considering.

A re-run of last season’s meeting is on offer @ 23.00 with Correct Score but appears unlikely.

The 1X2 Draw @ 4.20 has crossed my mind but I am going to opt for Total Goal 2-3 @ 2.10 as a *** tip.

 

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