By Daniel McInally
After a hard-fought draw away at Turf Moor, West Ham United return to London Stadium to take on Brighton and Hove Albion, for the first time ever in the Premier League.
Friday night football, which kicks off at 8pm, sees 14th-placed Brighton make the short trip to east London to take on West Ham, who are currently one place below the Seagulls in the Premier League table.Â
The Irons will be looking to make home advantage count this season, after some encouraging performances at London Stadium, the 3-2 loss at home to Tottenham was a close content, and the 1-0 home win against Swansea was a crucial result, they will be hoping to leap frog Brighton with a win on tomorrow night. The last time the two teams met in 2012, West Ham ran out 6-0 winners, courtesy of a Ricardo Vaz Te hattrick.Â
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West Ham United will be out without striker Andy Carroll, who was sent off for two bookable offences against Burnley last weekend. This could see Diafra Sahko come into the side and potentially link up with Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez in a new-look strike force. Â
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The visitors come into the game aiming to make a stamp on their premier league campaign after a varied start. A 90th minute Wayne Rooney penalty denied them three points against Everton last weekend, and their home win against Newcastle was a particularly good result at home for them, but away, they are winless.Â
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“Their home form is good, but their away form is not so good†said West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic.Â
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West Ham have only lost one of their last five games, and the boss seems happy with the team’s recent form;
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“We are, yes. We had a slow start with three away defeats, but then the international break, if you are counting from until then, we have improved results.â€
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"We have to win that game. We wanted to be in the top ten straight away, but it didn’t happen and there were various reasons for thatâ€Â
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If West Ham are able to find a way past a valiant Brighton side, then they will leapfrog the Seagulls and feasibly move into the top ten.Â
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