This Saturday, two teams will go head-to-head in opposite positions. Despite beating Nottingham Forest 4-0 in their last league game, West Ham are still in a very bad spot, just two points above the bottom three.
In complete contrast, Brighton has the best team they have ever had, sitting eighth in the league, and well amid a European battle. Brighton possesses a young, dynamic and exciting team that is full of quality. Whereas the Hammers seem to have many players who have passed their best and are now really struggling.
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Tactical breakdown
Both teams have a similar system in terms of a 4-2-3-1 shape. However, that is where the similarities end.
West Ham likes to sit back, try and absorb the pressure and then hit teams on the break. Whereas Brighton attempt to keep the ball and then play through the press, creating overloads on the opposition defence.
Last year, when West Ham got to Europe, they were very compact in the middle of the pitch to force teams out wide and they would then rely on the one v one capabilities of Vladimir Coufal and Aaron Cresswell to stop balls coming into the box and wingers cutting inside.
The energy of Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek coupled with their physical stature meant they could win their duels, break down attacks in the middle of the pitch and then spring counterattacks on the opposition.
This has been absent this season and has led to the Hammers being slower in transition. As well as this, Soucek and the full-backs have really let the team down defensively and look completely different players to what they have been over the past two seasons.
Roberto de Zerbi has his Albion side playing brilliant football. It is very exciting to watch and is part of the reason they are scoring 1.8 goals per game (only Arsenal and Manchester City are more prolific).
It is very common for a Brighton defender to put their foot on the ball and invite the press, enabling Brighton to use the squad’s brilliant passing ability to play through it, create overloads in the final third and then utilise the one-on-one abilities of their wingers to create opportunities to score goals.
A midfield minefield
One key battle will be in the middle of the park as two of the finest young midfielders in the world will go toe-to-toe at the AMEX. Both Alexis Mac Allister and Declan Rice are pivotal to the way their teams play.
Mac Allister’s wonderful technical ability allows his team to play one or two-touch football and Rice’s ability to protect his back four, break the lines with his passing and dribbling and use that ability to launch counterattacks is the main reason why West Ham have a chance of playing Premier League football next year.
Mac Allister has played a more advanced role in recent weeks due to the absence of Adam Lallana and that is likely to happen again this weekend.
Rice tends to sit in the middle of the pitch and whilst he is good going forward, his main job is to stop attacks; with Mac Allister in the number 10 role, that will be a very difficult task.
Mac Allister will look to play a little bit wider and get closer to Kaoru Mitoma, aiming get the best out of him. However, it will be in the middle of the pitch where this battle will take place. Rice is making 2.1 tackles and 1.5 interceptions per game this season, which shows the value he adds to this West Ham side.
However, he will not be making that many tackles against Brighton, as Mac Allister will drop into pockets of space when Brighton will be in possession, to allow him to get on the ball and then use his passing ability to drive the team forward and play in the front three.
This, paired with Soucek’s immobility, will mean a lot is down to Rice to stop Brighton from progressing the ball through the midfield. Mac Allister makes 47 passes per game and this incredible volume shows his importance in the way that Brighton plays. Rice will need to be at the top of his game to stop the Argentinian midfielder.
He also makes 1.1 key passes per game, and is very effective when on the ball. This is the reason why Mitoma and March are so influential, because of how quickly Mac Allister plays the ball to them.
Rice can stop Mac Allister and whilst he is not hitting the levels of last season, he is still a very good player.
His size in midfield is very practical, as it means he can win his aerial duels and this, combined with his speed and aggressiveness when defending, means he can shut down attacks well.
His aim will be to stop the service to Mac Allister, rather than stop Mac Allister directly. By doing this, it can prevent Brighton from playing the football they want and disrupt their game plan by slowing it down and effectively taking Mac Allister out of the game.
With the likes of Moises Caicedo and Pascal Gross supporting Mac Allister, it will most likely be the Argentinian who will win the battle, due to having more support.
Nayef Aguerd's role
New signing Nayef Aguerd plays on a much deeper line than the rest of his defenders in his role is as a sweeper.
This will have many effects on the game. Playing this deep gives the rest of the team some cover, allowing them to be more aggressive in the tackle and step up more often.
However, this could play into Brighton’s hands, as by being more aggressive in the press, it means the Seagulls will be able to play through the lines and create more one-on-one opportunities for players like Mitona and March.
The high-risk high-reward football Brighton play means that if West Ham’s press is effective, then that could be an avenue for a goal for the Irons in a time where goals are very few and far between.
It could also pull Brighton out of position when they are on the ball. De Zerbi likes to have his players coming deep to get on the ball, forcing some of their opposition to drop deeper with them and then play quick football to get away from defenders pressing high and create overloads in the final third.
Aguerd's positioning will mean Brighton’s attackers will have to play higher up in order to create one-on-one opportunities for their attackers; they will not be able to progress up the pitch in the way they want. Brighton would prefer to play quicker football and use 'controlled chaos' to outclass West Ham, but with Aguerd being so deep, this will be very hard.
Despite this, the quality of Brighton should be enough to break down West Ham’s defence.