West Ham United will go head to head with Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday afternoon hoping to build on their recent good run in the Premier League. The Hammers were able to beat Manchester United last weekend comfortably and would come into this clash full of confidence. On the other hand, the Seagulls need to put an end to their two-match losing streak in the league and this home game versus the East Londoners would serve as an excellent opportunity for them to get back to winning ways.
Manuel Pellegrini is expected to stick with his favoured 4-1-4-1 formation and might name an unchanged side for this contest.
4-1-4-1 West Ham United Predicted Lineup To Face Brighton And Hove
Defence
Lukasz Fabianski will start in goal for the Hammers after putting on a fantastic display versus Manchester United in the previous gameweek. The Polish shot-stopper has been in a rich vein of form of late and also has a clean sheet against Chelsea to show for his efforts.
The defensive duo of Fabian Balbuena and Issa Diop might continue their partnership in central defence for Pellegrini’s team while Pablo Zabaleta would look to use his experience on the right side of the West Ham backline. Arthur Masuaku is expected to take up his duties at left-back following an impressive outing versus the Red Devils last weekend.
Midfield
Declan Rice will retain his place in midfield while operating as a deep-lying, holding midfielder. The duo of Mark Noble and Pedro Obiang could start ahead of him at the centre of the pitch. They would be responsible for putting in another tireless shift in midfield to break down some of the Brighton attacks while also provide adequate support to the attacking players in the opposition half.
Felipe Anderson scored his first Premier League goal last weekend and would be expected to replicate a similar performance down the left flank while Andriy Yarmolenko might look to cut in from right midfield and take some shots at the Brighton goal.
Attack
Despite being plagued with injuries in recent times, Marko Arnautovic has managed to score goals in the league on a consistent basis. The Austrian centre-forward will once again be at the heart of every West Ham attack going forward. He could be Pellegrini’s biggest weapon versus the Seagulls on Saturday afternoon.
