Team News…
Defender Jean-Clair Todibo will be assessed ahead of the visit of Brighton & Hove Albion, having missed the draw away at AFC Bournemouth on Monday night.
Midfielder Carlos Soler, meanwhile, will be suspended for Saturday’s match following his fifth yellow card of the Premier League season at Vitality Stadium.
Elsewhere, Michail Antonio will remain absent for the Hammers, as he recovers from surgery on a lower limb fracture suffered in a road traffic accident earlier this month.
Ferdi Kadıoğlu, James Milner, Solly March and Adam Webster are all likely to be out for Brighton, but Joel Veltman and Jack Hinshelwood could make their returns from injury in east London.
Opposition…
Is there a better-run club in English football than Brighton & Hove Albion?
Despite selling a succession of players for combined fees totalling more than £400million since the summer of 2021, the Seagulls continue to fly high in the Premier League.
Ben White, Dan Burn, Leandro Trossard, Marc Cucurella, Yves Bissouma, Alexis Mac Allister, Robert Sánchez, Moisés Caicedo, Pascal Groß and Billy Gilmour have all departed the American Express Stadium in recent seasons and gone on to impress at their respective new homes.
While some clubs might have struggled after losing such a large number of seemingly vital members of their squad, Brighton have somehow continued to compete in the best league in the world.
Brighton’s owner since 2009, local businessman Tony Bloom is the man who has overseen the incredible transformation on the Sussex coast.
Under Bloom’s leadership, Brighton have risen from EFL League One to reach the knockout stages of last season’s UEFA Europa League.
The question every other club in the country should surely be asking is, how?
Put simply, Brighton have a philosophy which they follow, on and off the pitch, and they stick to it.
While some may panic-buy when results or performances dip, Brighton have stuck to their principles - namely identifying young, up-and-coming, talented players and coaches with the potential to develop and improve to the highest level.
While many clubs are reticent to offer opportunities to those players and coaches, instead opting for experienced - almost always far more expensive - alternatives, Brighton’s assured confidence in their philosophy means they are not afraid to try out the untested on the pitch and in the dugout.
In 2018, Bloom bought Belgian second-tier club Royale Union Saint-Gilloise (USG). They won promotion in 2021, then finished second in the top-flight and won the Belgian Cup last season.
USG have also assisted Brighton by serving as a testing ground for some of the young players bought by the Seagulls, then sent on loan to Brussels, including current starters Simon Adingra and Kaoru Mitoma.
Brighton have also developed an outstanding worldwide scouting network that has seen them bring in a succession of future stars from overseas, with South America a particular area of strength.
In the dugout, Bloom has also made a series of appointments of head coaches with no previous Premier League managerial experience, including Graham Potter, Roberto De Zerbi and, in the summer just gone, 31-year-old German Fabian Hürzeler.
Of course, sport is not science, but former gambler Bloom and his Brighton have seemingly found a winning formula.