West Ham United vs Brighton & Hove Albion LIVE: Premier League ...

Follow live coverage as West Ham United face Brighton & Hove Albion today in the Premier League. Another top-flight season will be covered in full right here with The Independent, as reigning champions Manchester City look to make it an unprecedented five titles in a row come the end of 2024/25.

The likes of Arsenal and Liverpool will be chasing Pep Guardiola's side, but just as fascinating will be the race for Champions League places, with more teams than ever before having designs on top-four finishes. Chelsea remain big-spending, Manchester United's latest rebuild continues and both Tottenham and Newcastle will expect improvements this year - yet it was Aston Villa who snared fourth last term.

Meanwhile, it's Southampton, Leicester City and Ipswich Town who made it back to the elite after promotion last year and each will have hope they can make it more than a one-year stay. Follow the latest live action from the Premier League below:

West Ham United FC 1 - 1 Brighton & Hove Albion FC

Mo Farah and Usain Bolt have both been beaten at the London Stadium since its existence, but Brighton have still never been beaten here after they were held to a 1-1 draw against West Ham. The first half was extremely balanced, and neither side had a clear-cut chance to go ahead so the score was 0-0 as the players went in at the break. The second half was much livelier and it only took Brighton six minutes after the break to go ahead. Fabianski flapped at a cross aimed towards Dunk, and the ball fell kindly to Wieffer who was waiting just inside the box. He side-footed the shot straight into the goal and gave the away team a breakthrough. It didn’t take long for West Ham to respond after Bowen was moved up front as he drove straight at the Brighton defenders and got a shot away. Verbruggen saved the initial effort, but Kudus was on hand to head the ball beyond him to make it 1-1. After that, most of the chances fell to Brighton, who will feel they should’ve won the game. Wan-Bissaka produced some late heroics to keep the score level with a header off the West Ham line, and the game finished level at 1-1. West Ham generated 1.60 xG throughout the course of the game, whereas Brighton drummed up 0.91 xG. Thank you for joining this live text commentary, goodbye!

FULL-TIME: WEST HAM 1-1 BRIGHTON

WOW! Wan-Bissaka saves West Ham a point with an unbelievable header right in front of the goal. He was under immense pressure from Lamptey, and both ended up on the floor but what a goal-saving clearance that was!

Brighton keep coming forward! Can they find that extra something to break through late on and take all three points?

GREAT SAVE! Ayari connected with the ball deep inside the West Ham box with a powerful shot, but Fabianksi was equal to it again and kept the score level!

There will be six added minutes!

CLOSE! Ferguson had two great chances within seconds of eachother! The first chance was a simple ball across to him from the wing, and he completely missed the ball. The second chance was a cros by Minteh, and Ferguson was inches away from the header. Big opportunities!

Substitution Edson Omar Álvarez Velázquez Guido Rodríguez

CHANCE! Bowen found the ball at his feet just outside the six-yard box, following a flick on by Soucek. Just as he was about to shoot, a block came in from the Brighton defenders!

Mitoma is replaced by Ferguson in another offensive change for the away team. Brighton are going for it!

Yellow Card Pervis Josué Estupiñán Tenorio

Well, this game has opened up massively now! It is left-to-right and then back again in an instant, and either side could win it!

OFF THE LINE! Minteh got in behind the West Ham defence and closed in on goal, before trying to pick out Mitoma at the back post. It was unclear who got the final touch on the ball before it was cleared, but the away fans thought they’d gone ahead!

This has been one of the most evenly matched games in the Premier League season so far. Neither team are faltering defensively in general, but Brighton’s lead only lasted a number of minutes!

CHANCE! Summerville was one-on-one with Dunk after a quick break by West Ham. He tried cutting inside for a shot, but Dunk stood strong and managed to block the shot!

Baleba and Minteh try and combine around the box. Baleba’s final ball was overhit, however, and Minteh was unable to control it. Goal-kick to West Ham.

The game has entered a rather dull stage, which could be the calm before the storm. Neither team are going forward with any urgency.

Now West Ham make two changes! Paqueta leaves the field of play, with a nice break to look forward to on Boxing Day due to his yellow card. He is replaced by Scarles.

Substitution Emerson Palmieri dos Santos Vladimír Coufal

The last change sees Rutter coming off, who is another player who has had a quiet game. Enciso, who changed Brighton's outlook against Crystal Palace has come on.

The second change allows Minteh to join the action, and he replaces Gruda who has had a sub-par performance on his first start.

Brighton make three changes. The first sees Veltman come off to be replaced by Lamptey in the right-back position, with the former being on a yellow card.

Brighton get a great shot away through Ayari, but once again Fabianski makes up for his blunder with another good save away to his right. It was brilliant play from the away team to create the chance.

We are in for a whirlwind ending to this game, as neither team will want to lose against opposition close to them in the table. West Ham could do with the win more, to pull themselves away from the bottom half of the table.

Mitoma tried a trivela cross to save another failing Brighton attack, but Fabianski did well to clear the ball away from any more danger.

This is anyone’s game as we go into the last 20 minutes now. The home crowd are up and they’re pushing their team forward at every opportunity!

West Ham make another change of their own, with Fullkrug leaving the action. He has looked slow and hasn’t had a good game at all. Summerville replaces him, forcing Bowen up front.

Brighton are down to ten men at the moment, as Wieffer has left the field.

Substitution Mats Henrik Berne Wieffer Yasin Abbas Ayari

Wieffer, the goalscorer moments ago, is down on the floor and has a grimace on his face due to the pain he’s in.

The goal stands after a VAR check for an offside against Dunk and a foul on Fabianski in the buildup. Brighton lead 1-0!

Goal Mats Henrik Berne Wieffer

Brighton get their first corner of the game in the 49th minute, but West Ham seemed to clear it with no worries at all!

Brighton have started the second half with a bit more intensity, as they rushed forward straight from kick-off. Pedro did well, but the shot at the end of the move was poor, which has been the story of the game so far for Brighton.

KICK-OFF! We are up and running in the second half!

Substitution Konstantinos Mavropanos Jean-Clair Dimitri Roger Todibo

Looking at the second half, both sides need to work on being more clinical in attack. Fullkrug has been non-existent so far, and Brighton have been very messy in the final third. If both teams can bring a ruthless side to their attacks, we will see goals in this game. Both sides have seen late goals recently, so there is a possibility of it happening again here, but the first goal will be crucial to how the result pans out.

It’s still goalless here in London, and we are on course for a repeat of the last meeting between these two sides after 45 minutes of football. Neither side has been able to find a real chance in the opening half, with Bowen and Mitoma coming closest for their teams. Mitoma had a volley saved well at the near post by Fabianski, but other than that, Brighton have been poor in attacking sense. Bowen has been tormenting Estupinan on that side of the pitch and has been unlucky to not have a goal or an assist yet, as Verbruggen saved his tight-angled shot, and Dunk deflected his low cross. It has been a messy game with a lot of fouls, and three players have already been booked for this reason. West ham have generated 0.36 xG so far, and Brighton have generated 0.07 xG, showing their lack of quality in this game. Opta’s live win probability shows a 29.6% chance of a West Ham win, 35% for a draw, and 35.4% for a Brighton win, indicating that this game is there to be taken.

HALF-TIME: WEST HAM 0-0 BRIGHTON

Brighton have committed 12 fouls in this match, higher than their season average of 11.3 in the Premier League. It’s not even half-time yet!

Yellow Card Joël Ivo Veltman

Brighton play some risky football on the edge of their own box, but eventually, Baleba sorts his feet out and gets the ball away from danger.

There will be four additional minutes!

Brighton broke brilliantly with Pedro and he played a lovely reverse ball to the overlapping Estupinan, who SLIPS at the vital moment and loses control of a great opportunity to score.

West ham are such a danger from corner situations, but so far out of their numerous set-pieces, they haven’t been able to capitalise from them.

WHAT A MISS! Paqueta received a beautifully set pass by Emerson from the left, but his shot from the line of the box went way over the bar. A player with his quality should at least be hitting the target there.

Play is back underway after van Hecke’s injury, and the booking afterwards. That was around a three-minute delay, so we can expect a large chunk of added time.

Yellow Card Konstantinos Mavropanos

CLOSE! Bowen once again did so well up against Estupinan and put a ball across the face of goal, which took a nick off Dunk and went out for a corner. That’s as close to a goal that either side have seen.

Into the last 15 minutes now, and we are still awaiting the opener. Both sides have got into good spots, but no real clear-cut opportunities as of yet.

CHANCE! Pedro worked so hard to beat Paqueta out on the left, and he succeeded by breaking into the box. The goal was blocked and the Brighton man failed to pull the trigger before being closed down.

Neither team are playing clean football at the moment. An attack looks likely from both sides, but then a dodgy touch or a loose pass will give possession back to the opposition team. Both teams need to tighten up their games.

Wan-Bissaka sent a tidy, curling ball into the box as he aimed for Fullkrug. The German was slightly too slow getting into position, but West Ham have another corner.

Players are going down every few minutes under challenges. The latest instance was Wieffer fouling Paqueta after he was too keen to win the ball back for Brighton, and the referee blew up for a free-kick.

Mitoma met a cross at the back post, under pressure from Wan-Bissaka, and it was saved very well by Fabianski. Brighton have begun to grow back into the game now.

Brighton have looked slow and sluggish so far, which is a constant of their previous matches. They can’t seem to build any meaningful attacks at the moment, and that will worry their fans.

Yellow Card Lucas Tolentino Coelho de Lima

Dunk does well against Bowen, who got through against Estupinan…again. The big centre-back slid in well to clear the danger and give West Ham a corner.

Gruda went low into the area, hoping for a touch on it from a Brighton player, but West Ham cleared with no worries and they have possession back. That was so poor from the Brighton number eight.

Kudus fouls Gruda right on the edge of the box, and it’s given Brighton a free-kick in a very dangerous position.

West Ham get their first corner, and they look to be on the front foot now. Bowen whips ball in at the front post, but Estupinan heads behind for another corner.

The first half-chance of the game goes to West Ham and Bowen. He was all on his own on the right, but he beat Estupinan well and got a shot away from an impossible angle - which Verbruggen saved.

Pedro was on the attack moments ago, but he was shut down excellently by West Ham, and was eventually forced to run all the way back to his defensive line!

The game has started rather slowly, with neither team giving anything away so far, and the majority of possession being in the middle of the pitch.

There is a lot of spray coming from the ball as it rolls across the pitch, perhaps the West Ham grounds staff left the sprinklers on too long. It is slowing the ball down significantly.

KICK-OFF! Rob Jones blows his whistle for the first time here, and the game is under way!

The teams are out on the pitch, and we’re nearly ready for kick-off here in London. There is a tribute before kick-off for Oscar Fairs, a young academy player who sadly passed away recently.

West Ham are without Carlos Soler as he picked up another yellow card against Bournemouth, ruling him out through suspension. Fullkrug comes into the starting lineup as the striker, allowing their captain Bowen to move back into his preferred wide role. Coufal drops to the bench with the return of Emerson. For Brighton, their troubling loss to Crystal Palace has prompted numerous changes for this game. Lamptey, Ayari and Minteh drop to the bench and are replaced by Veltman, Wieffer and Gruda respectively. Welbeck is still out, so Pedro starts up front on his own.

BRIGHTON SUBS: Jason Steele, Tariq Lamptey, Igor Julio, Matt O’Riley, Julio Enciso, Simon Adingra, Yasin Ayari, Yankuba Minteh, Evan Ferguson.

BRIGHTON (4-2-3-1): Bart Verbruggen; Pervis Estupinan, Lewis Dunk, Jan Paul van Hecke, Joel Veltman; Mats Wieffer, Carlos Baleba; Kaoru Mitoma, Georginio Rutter, Brajan Gruda; Joao Pedro.

WEST HAM SUBS: Alphonse Areola, Vladimir Coufal, Jean-Clair Todibo, Crysencio Summerville, Luis Guilherme, Guido Rodriguez, Andy Irving, Oliver Scarles, Danny Ings.

WEST HAM (4-2-3-1): Lukasz Fabiansk; Emerson, Maximilian Kilman, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Aaron Wan-Bissaka; Tomas Soucek, Edson Alvarez; Mohammed Kudus, Lucas Paqueta, Jarrod Bowen; Niclas Fullkrug.

Fabian Hurzeler, will be somewhat disappointed with his Brighton’s season is going so far, as they sit ninth in the Premier League. Brighton have won six of their 16 games so far, with their most recent result being a humiliating 3-1 loss to rivals, Crystal Palace. They are currently floating around the middle of the Premier League, and the only thing stopping them from being lower is the fact that they’ve managed to pick up six points from draws alone.

Julen Lopetegui’s team started this Premier League campaign horribly, but he will be pleased that his side has shown an ability to turn their form around slightly. They have now won five games this season, meaning they sit 14th and don’t have to worry about a relegation battle. However, they will now more than likely have to wait until next season for another shot at Europe.

The last time these sides faced each other was in the Premier League, with the game ending 0-0 back in January! The two sides had previously seen some high-scoring games, but that deadlocked affair was an anomaly. Both sides have enjoyed European adventures in recent years, but both of their league positions this season suggest it will be a tough task to get back there.

Hello, and welcome to live text commentary on this Premier League clash between West Ham and Brighton at The London Stadium!

Follow all the goals and latest action from the Premier League here with The Independent. Team news and line-ups coming up shortly…