West Ham hold on for dear life, scoreless draw vs Brighton
The Premier League's festive fixtures drew to an anticlimactic close, with 28 shots (10 of which were on target) and nearly 1,100 passes completed, yet no goals scored between West Ham and Brighton on Tuesday.
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Brighton (31 points - 7th place) will come away incredibly frustrated by the result after dominating the game in typical Seagulls fashion, as West Ham (34 points - 6th) rode their luck and kept their place above the Seagulls in the Premier League table.
The vast majority of Brighton's scoring chances were blocked by one of seven or eight or nine Hammers defending deep inside their own third. The game's best chance fell to Jakub Moder in the 86th minute, after Pascal Gross's shot from eight yards out was blocked but bounded high into the air and landed at the far post. Moder was quickest to the ball, but smashed his first-time finish over the crossbar as Alphonse Areola scrambled across goal to put Moder off.
What’s next?
West Ham will be back in action on Sunday (9 am ET), when they host Championship side Bristol City in the FA Cup third round, before undertaking their weeklong winter break and returning to Premier League play away to Sheffield United on Jan. 21. Brighton will visit Championship side Stoke City on Saturday (10 am ET), then take their own winter break before hosting Wolves on Jan. 22.
Player ratings - West Ham vs Brighton
West Ham vs Brighton, final score: 0-0
Goalscorers: None
How to watch West Ham vs Brighton live, stream link and start time
Kick off: 2:30pm ET, Tuesday (January 2)
TV Channel: USA Network
Online: Stream via NBC.com
West Ham starting lineup
Areola — Johnson, Macropanos, Ogbonna, Emerson — Soucek, Alvarez — Fornals, Ward-Prowse, Benrahma, Bowen
Brighton starting lineup
Steele — Hinshelwood, Van Hecke, Webster, Estupiñan — Gilmour, Gross, Milner — Bounanotte, Welbeck, Pedro
West Ham focus, team news
The Hammers were dealt a big blow in their win at Arsenal with Paqueta going down with a knee injury. Benrahma is likely to come in for the Brazilian, while Kudus heading away on AFCON duty will also be a big blow in January. Once again Bowen will lead the line as his energy and clinical finishing is crucial to West Ham.
OUT: Mohammed Kudus (international duty), Michail Antonio (knee), Lucas Paqueta (knee), Nayef Aguerd (illness), Kurt Zouma (knee)
Brighton focus, team news
Igor and Buonanette both suffered injuries against Tottenham and Dunk picked up his fifth yellow of the season and is suspended, so De Zerbi will have to rotate heavily once again. Whoever the Seagulls bring in will know the system inside out and you know exactly what you're going to get from Brighton.
OUT: Ansu Fati (thigh), Julio Enciso (knee), Tariq Lamptey (thigh), Solly March (knee), Pervis Estupinan (thigh), Adam Webster (knock), Joel Veltman (knee), Kaoru Mitoma (ankle), Lewis Dunk (suspension), Igor (knock)
