Seven Premier League sides are yet to taste defeat this season, and two of them meet at the Amex Stadium on Matchday 3. We look ahead to their clash with our Brighton vs West Ham prediction and preview.
Brighton vs West Ham: The Quick Hits
- The Opta Supercomputer expects Brighton’s perfect start to 2023-24 to continue, giving them a 42.3% chance of victory against West Ham.
- West Ham have failed to beat Brighton in their 12 previous Premier League meetings, drawing six and losing six.
- Brighton could become just the fourth team in English top-flight history to score four or more goals in their first three games of a season, and the first since Blackburn Rovers in 1958-59.
Match Preview
Brighton and Hove Albion have begun the new Premier League campaign the way they ended 2022-23, putting opponents to the sword with their distinctive brand of front-foot football. Saturday’s meeting with West Ham United offers them the chance to make it three wins from three games.
Roberto De Zerbi’s Seagulls have soared to the summit of the top-flight league table for the first time in their history following back-to-back 4-1 thrashings of Luton Town and Wolverhampton Wanderers. They have started a top-flight campaign with successive wins for just the second time, after doing so in 2021-22. Their tally of eight goals, meanwhile, is the joint-best they have managed in their first two outings of a league season, matching their return as a fourth-tier outfit in 1999-00.
Not even big-name exits can slow Brighton’s progress, it seems. After sanctioning Moisés Caicedo’s British record £115 million move to Chelsea last week, they saw familiar faces Kaoru Mitoma, Pervis Estupiñán and Solly March punish a wasteful Wolves side.
March scored twice last time out, taking him to 15 goal involvements in his last 19 league starts (10 goals, five assists), and he is now looking to become the first Brighton player to net in their first three games of a top-flight season. His performance at Wolves saw him finish Matchday 2 as the highest-ranked player of the weekend in the Opta Player Ratings.
Fellow winger Mitoma has created the joint-most chances (nine, alongside Phil Foden) across the Premier League’s first two matchdays, so no defence will be looking forward to facing the duo.
While Brighton’s flying start is not exactly unexpected, West Ham caused something of a surprise by overcoming Chelsea 3-1 in an entertaining London derby on Sunday, taking the Hammers to four points from their first two games.
Moyes’ position as manager was reportedly under threat during a chaotic pre-season, but the signings of James Ward-Prowse and Edson Álvarez have lifted the mood in east London, and the pair could go some way to filling a Declan Rice-shaped hole in the Hammers midfield.
Ward-Prowse enjoyed a debut to remember against Chelsea, with the England international becoming the first player to provide two assists on his maiden Premier League outing for the Irons. His first – a trademark delivery from a corner which was nodded in by Nayef Aguerd – took him to 25 set-piece assists in England’s top flight. He’s now just eight off the Premier League record of assists from corners and free kicks, currently held by – you guessed it (you definitely didn’t) – Chris Brunt (33).
Aguerd will be unavailable at Brighton following his second-half dismissal against Chelsea. However, West Ham could bring new arrival Konstantinos Mavropanos into their lineup for the first time, while Ajax’s Mohammed Kudus remains a transfer target further forward.
Moyes is hoping to end a personal hoodoo on Saturday, having failed to beat Brighton in eight previous attempts in the Premier League (D4 L4). The Scot has overseen victories over 40 different clubs in the competition, with Brentford the only other team he’s yet to beat.
Brighton vs West Ham Head-to-Head
West Ham are still chasing their first Premier League victory over Brighton. They have suffered six defeats in their 12 previous meetings against them in the competition, drawing the other six.
That is the most Premier League games West Ham have played against a single opponent without winning, with their last league victory against Brighton coming by a 6-0 scoreline in the Championship in April 2012.
Brighton enjoyed two comprehensive victories over West Ham last term, winning 2-0 at the London Stadium under former boss Graham Potter last August before thrashing West Ham 4-0 at the Amex this March.
Danny Welbeck rounded off the scoring in that game, taking him to seven goals against West Ham during his senior career (three each for Arsenal and Brighton, one for Manchester United), more than he has managed against any other club.
Recent Form
After routing Luton and Wolves, Brighton are looking to win their opening three games of a league season for the first time since 2011-12, when they went on to finish 10th in the Championship.
De Zerbi’s team have thrilled in the season’s opening weeks, leading all Premier League teams for open-play shots (35) and open-play expected goals (5.17). They could follow in the footsteps of Everton (in 1890-91), Sheffield Wednesday (1931-32) and Blackburn Rovers (1958-59) by scoring four or more goals in each of their first three games of a top-flight campaign.
West Ham are also looking to build some positive momentum, targeting back-to-back Premier League wins for the first time since last October, when they overcame Wolves and Fulham.
Opta Power Rankings
The Opta Power Rankings are a global team ranking system that assigns an ability score to over 13,000 domestic football teams on a scale between zero and 100, where zero is the worst-ranked team in the world and 100 is the best team in the world.
Ahead of kick-off this weekend, here is the Opta Power Ranking for both sides.
Brighton vs West Ham Prediction
It’s fair to say Brighton have had West Ham’s number in their previous Premier League meetings, and the Opta Supercomputer expects more of the same, giving the hosts a 42.3% chance of victory.
West Ham are given a 29.1% chance of inflicting Brighton’s first defeat of the season, with the draw rated at 28.6%.
Brighton’s flying start to the season sees them given a 23.3% chance of a top-four finish by the Opta supercomputer, with sixth (14.5%) rated as their most likely finishing position. West Ham are fancied for a top-half finish, with their chances of coming in 10th rated highest at 12.7%.
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