Nuno confirms Paqueta will start for West Ham at Brighton

Nuno Espirito Santo has confirmed that Lucas Paqueta will start against Brighton after returning from his suspension.

The Brazilian midfielder was shown two yellow cards in quick succession against Liverpool last weekend for dissent, causing him to miss the Hammers' 1-1 draw against Manchester United on Thursday.

Nuno will be hoping for a positive impact from Paqueta, with the coach winning just two of his nine Premier League games against Brighton (D5 L2), though his most recent with the Seagulls ended in his joint biggest win in his managerial career (7-0 with Nottingham Forest in February).

Paqueta vented his frustration on social media, while Nuno revealed that he had been struggling following the gambling investigation conducted by the Football Association (FA).

However, Nuno believes the red card is all in the past now as they look ahead to their trip to the Amex Stadium.

"Lucas is going to play from the start [at Brighton on Sunday]," said Nuno.

"I already spoke about that [his sending-off for dissent against Liverpool last weekend]. It's in the past. I'm positive that it will not happen again because he personally admitted his mistake.

"We saw the things where we had to say in the dressing room [after the Liverpool game] and I'm positive that it's over, and he will not repeat it."

Brighton were unbeaten in four league games before they lost 4-3 to Aston Villa last time out, despite leading the match 2-0.

And the loss was made worse for Fabian Hurzeler when Stefanos Tzimas suffered a knee injury, leaving him sidelined for the foreseeable future.

But the Seagulls could be boosted by the returns of Kaoru Mitoma, Yasin Ayari, Georginio Rutter and Tommy Watson.

"I hope that Yasin is available on Sunday. We're not sure yet, but there's definitely a chance that he's available," said Hurzeler.

"Kaoru is still an option. Let's see if he's able to train today. He has come back into our training sessions. He had a small setback during a training session, not a big one.

"So hopefully he can train and then, for sure, we try to make him available as quickly as possible.

"Georginio should be an option for Sunday. He's back in non-contact training. The same for Tommy. I hope that he will train today with the team. I hope that they're both options."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Brighton – Danny Welbeck

Against no side has Brighton's Danny Welbeck scored more Premier League goals than he has against West Ham (six).

And only against Everton (10) has he been involved in more than against the Hammers (nine – six goals, three assists).

West Ham – Callum Wilson

West Ham striker Callum Wilson has been involved in eight Premier League goals against Brighton (five goals, three assists), only having a hand in more against Burnley (nine) and the Hammers themselves (12).

The English forward has also scored four goals in 11 league games this season, with three of those coming in his last four matches.

MATCH PREDICTION – BRIGHTON WIN

Brighton have lost just one of their 16 Premier League games against West Ham (W7 D8), a 3-1 home loss in August 2023.

The Seagulls have scored more Premier League goals against West Ham than they have vs any other side (31), while they’ve only beaten Manchester United (eight) more than the Hammers (seven) in the competition.

West Ham have won just 6% of their Premier League games against Brighton (1/16), their lowest win rate against any side they’ve faced more than twice in the competition.

However, West Ham have won each of their last three Premier League away games played on a Sunday, as many as they had in their previous 27 (D5 L19).

Brighton’s loss to Villa in their last Premier League home game also ended a 10-game unbeaten run at the Amex Stadium (W6 D4).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Brighton – 62.9%

Draw – 19.7%

West Ham – 17.4%