Brighton vs West Ham

Premier League clubs Brighton & Hove Albion and West Ham United will meet at the Amex Stadium on Saturday afternoon after experiencing unsatisfactory outcomes in their previous fixtures.

A draw occurred between the West Ham United and Brighton and Hove Albion teams during their meeting at the London Stadium in December when Mohammed Kudus scored to equalize after Mats Wieffer scored first.

Brighton faces an escalating challenge to qualify for European competition because their winless run in five Premier League fixtures resulted in one point from twelve possible points with their recent 4-2 loss at Brentford.

Brighton Seagulls completed the first half tied at 1-1 through Danny Welbeck but allowed the Bees to dominate the second half to their downfall by scoring three additional goals while Joao Pedro's dismissal resulted in their ninth league defeat during this season.

Brighton supporters have begun to criticize Hurzeler as the team faces ongoing defeat following their 4-2 loss at Brentford while manager Rob Hurzeler maintains that the players demonstrated a strong response to the red card but gave away numerous basic mistakes.

Brighton can achieve their Conference League qualification target by ending the season in top eight position though the Seagulls trail Aston Villa in seventh place by nine points meaning Europa League participation becomes improbable.

Brighton's recent slump in form has been attributed to defensive weaknesses; they have given up two or more goals in each of their previous five Premier League games, which is their longest run since March 2022 (six straight). But going into Saturday's match, the Seagulls have only lost once in their 15 top-flight encounters with West Ham (W6 D8), which is encouraging.

West Ham is in danger of finishing in the Premier League's bottom half. In their previous six games, they have alternated between losing and drawing, most notably losing to cellar team Southampton 1-1 at home last weekend.

If West Ham, now in 17th position in the Premier League standings, wins at least one point on Saturday or if Ipswich Town, currently in 18th place with five games left, loses against Newcastle United, they will officially escape relegation.

The Hammers enter Saturday's match with five points from their past nine games against Brighton (W1 D2), which is just one less than they had earned in their first twelve matches of this kind (D6 L6).

This season, West Ham, which defeated Brighton 3-1 at the Amex last season, has won four away Premier League games and maintained a clean sheet each time.