West Ham United welcome Brentford to the London Stadium in their final clash of 2022.
Victory could see West Ham climb as high as 13th in the table, whilst Brentford can go ninth with a win.
Team News
Nayef Aguerd could return for West Ham after he missed their Boxing Day defeat at Arsenal due to fitness issues on his return from the World Cup.
Gianluca Scamacca (ankle) could also feature but Maxwel Cornet (knock) and Kurt Zouma (knee) both remain absent.
Brentford could welcome Frank Onyeka back into contention after he missed their Boxing Day draw against Tottenham with a hamstring injury.
Thomas Stakosha, Aaron Hickey (both ankle), Kristoffer Ajer (knee) and Shandon Baptiste (adductor) remain absent, although Hickey could have an outside chance of featuring if he proves his fitness in time.
Stat Attack
- West Ham have lost each of their two previous Premier League meetings against Brentford (L2).
- Brentford have won their only previous competitive visit to West Ham at the Hammers’ current home – London Stadium, winning 2-1 in October 2021 with a 90th minute winner from Yoane Wissa.
- Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo has scored in both of his Premier League appearances against David Moyes’ Hammers (W2).
- West Ham are unbeaten in two of three London derbies played at home this season (W1, D1, L1).
- Thomas Frank’s Bees have failed to win in two previous London derbies away from home this season (D1, L1).
Prediction
Having enjoyed a positive first-half display in which they earned a lucky lead at Arsenal, West Ham just seemed to lack second-half bite in their defensive marking and were deservedly punished, so I will like to see a more solid gutsy performance from David Moyes’ Hammers here.
Brentford meanwhile looked like they weren’t affected by the World Cup break because they again showed excellent attacking intensity and movement against top opposition, yet were undone by a loss of focus once 2-0 up but Tottenham love second-half comebacks so a draw is a decent result to take.
Both teams though know that this is a must-win game because West Ham really need to pick up results to avoid a relegation scrap, whereas Thomas Frank’s Bees could put themselves in the mix for Europa League football at maximum with a strong win here.
Either way, this should be a competitive clash between two solid London teams but Brentford do look in better form, so I am going for a narrow away win.
Prediction: West Ham 1-2 Brentford
Result: West Ham 0-2 Brentford
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