Match Preview – West Ham United v Brighton

West Ham – the team
This was meant to be the start of a glorious new era for West Ham United. When the Hammers left grand old Upton Park for the Olympic Stadium, there was talk of record crowds, Champions League football and crucially to David Gold and David Sullivan – once rumoured to be interested in investing in the Albion pre Tony Bloom – increasing profit. Listen to any Brighton fan and we could’ve told them how shit playing in an athletics stadium is having spent 12 years at Withdean Stadium. Admittedly the re branded London Stadium has a roof and doesn’t have an away end in a different postcode, but it was never likely to be a good supporter experience and despite Gold and Sullivan’s grandiose promises, West Ham won’t ever crack the top four without huge investment. As a result, they seem to be a club in a state of flux with a manager who is constantly under pressure and a board room with unrealistic expectations. Both us and the Hammers have eight points from eight games so far and although their squad is better than ours on paper, it’s an away game from which the Albion should be realistically targeting points from – especially with a run of five games to come on the road that encompass trips to Manchester United, Spurs and Chelsea before the end of the year.

West Ham – the place
West Ham originally came from the London Borough of Newham before they made the short switch to the London Stadium. Newham boasts the youngest overall population in the country according to the 2011 census while it was also where a certain bloke called Chris Hughton was born. Albert Square isn’t too far away and as such some of the more notable residents of Walford such as Billy Mitchell, Alfie Moon and current landlord of the Queen Vic pub Mick Carter are all proper Hammers fans.

West Ham – the people
Other big name supporters include Russell Brand (twat), Phil Jupitus (twat) and James Corden (twat). There was also an American bloke called Matt Buckner who the film Green Street (twstish) was based around and who looked suspiciously like Frodo Baggins.

A good WeAreBrighton.com memory of West Ham away
We’ve only ever won once away at West Ham but what a win it was. Easily the greatest triumph during the era of Mark McGhee’s 10-0-0 formation, the Albion won 1-0 at Upton Park through Guy Butters header despite the Hammers having 77 shots on goal and 105% of the possession. One of the most ridiculous yet enjoyable away games of the last 20 years

A bad WeAreBrighton.com memory of West Ham away
Our last visit to West Ham saw a WeAreBrighton.com Early Leave Record set of 26 minutes in favour of watching the Grand National in the pub. We were 3-0 down by that point, Sexy Pete Brezovan was playing like a man with no arms and Ricardo Vaz Te looked like Ronaldo, Messi, Maradona and Pele rolled into one. The game eventually finished 6-0. At least this time around we should make it to half time before walking out.

Played for both?
That chap Bobby Zamora didn’t do too badly for both sides now, did he?

Dangermen
Javier Hernandez is one of the most deadly poachers in Europe which makes Slaven Bilic’s decision earlier in the season to shove him wide to accommodate Andy Carroll mystifying. Lewis Dunk and Shane Duffy would have loved the aerial battle with Carroll but he is suspended, meaning Hernandez is likely to take up a more central role. We’ve struggled against players in his mould such as Riyad Mahrez, Gabriel Jesus and Jordon Ibe this season so keeping Hernandez quiet will be vital to our chances.

Betting
It will probably be a typical Brighton away performance in the Premier League. We will be tough to break down and content to take a draw. Given that seven of our 10 games so far this season have been level at the break, the draw half time at 11/10 is worth whacking some money on.

You can see our full OLBG Betting Blog for the West Ham game here

Prediction
We were spot on with the 1-1 draw for the Everton game and we’re going for exactly the same scoreline here again.