West Ham supporters have been reasonably buoyant in the Transfer Tavern in recent times given their side’s recent upturn in form, which continued with a battling 1-1 draw away at Burnley on Saturday despite playing over an hour with just ten men.
Slaven Bilic’s men went into their clash at Turf Moor having won just two of their opening seven matches, but had lost just one of their preceding four games before facing Sean Dyche’s Clarets. And they looked on course for a first away victory of the campaign when Michail Antonio gave them a 19th minute lead, yet Andy Carroll’s red card eight minutes later brought a Burnley onslaught which eventually saw the hosts level five minutes from time thanks to Chris Wood’s fine header.
Nonetheless, it was a performance met with satisfaction from several of our resident Hammers fans, and they will hope to take that optimism and confidence into their clash with Brighton & Hove Albion on Friday night.
Chris Hughton’s men sit a place above Bilic’s side in the table but have also won two and drawn two of their opening eight matches, the latest being a 1-1 draw at home to struggling Everton on Sunday.
However, they have picked up just one point on the road so far this season and as such West Ham will be confident of recording a third victory of the campaign at the London Stadium on Friday night.
And here are THREE reasons why they will do just that…
Decent run of form
After losing their opening three Premier League games, it didn’t look at all good for West Ham or manager Bilic, but they have since then been much-improved.
The Hammers have lost just one of their last six games in all competitions, and have won all but one of their four matches at the London Stadium, with a 3-2 defeat to Tottenham the only blot in what has been a decent run of form.
What’s more, they have beaten the sides around them at home in Huddersfield Town and Swansea City, and with Brighton just above Bilic’s men in the table and likely to be battling relegation this term, this is another one of those matches.
Bilic seems to be able to mastermind victories over these sorts of sides at home, and you wouldn’t back against him doing that again on Friday
Brighton’s away woes
While West Ham have been pretty solid at home this season, the same cannot be said of Brighton on their travels.
Hughton’s side have picked up just one point from their opening four away games, and that perhaps should have been three as they only managed a 0-0 draw at Watford despite the Hornets playing the majority of the match with ten men.
Other than that, the Seagulls have suffered defeats at Leicester, Bournemouth, and Arsenal, with their only goal coming at the Vitality Stadium, and although they are hardly the easiest games to start with, Brighton haven’t yet found a way to get the job done away from home.
And with Bilic’s Hammers reasonably good at the London Stadium, they will fancy their chances of inflicting more away-day misery for Hughton’s side on Friday.
They find a way in games like these
It feels like Bilic has been one game away from the sack for about 12 months now, and it feels like that is the case again on Friday.
Yet that pressure seems to bring the best out of the Croat, as often he is able to get victories in games like these.
This season, the Hammers got past Huddersfield Town having lost their opening three matches, and they then left it late to edge past Swansea City just before the international break, another game they really needed to win.
Last season, West Ham were seriously struggling ahead of home games against Burnley and Hull City, but they won both 1-0, before beating the Swans by the same scoreline off the back of a run of five straight defeats.
Clearly, there is something about a game like this that Bilic relishes, and the Croat often comes away with three points.
The same could well happen on Friday.
