By Anthony Onifade

4th Mar, 2023 | 2:03pm

Michail Antonio not in squad, David Moyes makes two changes - West Ham United confirmed starting XI v Brighton

West Ham have confirmed their starting line-up for their crucial Premier League encounter with Brighton at the Amex Stadium on Saturday 4 March.

The Hammers crashed out of the FA Cup on Wednesday evening after a late surge from a much-changed and rampant Manchester United side at Old Trafford.

And confirming the line-up [4 March] via the club’s official Twitter account, David Moyes has decided to make two changes with Danny Ings and Jarrod Bowen replacing Michail Antonio and Pablo Fornals from the midweek defeat.

Antonio, who missed numerous chances against Manchester United earlier this week, isn’t even on the bench.

Tough test

Wednesday night’s FA Cup fifth-round defeat to Manchester United will have certainly angered Moyes as his side had enough chances to pull two or three goals clear well before the Carabao Cup winners staged a resurgent comeback.

But for poor finishing from Antonio, the Hammers now only have their European exploits in the UEFA Europa Conference League and the Premier League to contend with and considering their dreadful position in the league table, the English top flight will be of paramount importance.

The 4-0 win over Nottingham Forest will have certainly lifted the spirits in the Hammers camp and Moyes will also have been delighted with the return to form of January signing Danny Ings – a huge shame he was cup-tied at Old Trafford.

However, Brighton may well be the club’s toughest test this week, with Roberto De Zerbi’s men playing scintillating football right now, but the omens don’t look good for the Hammers. They are still winless against Brighton since the Seagulls earned promotion to the big time in 2017 – losing each of their last two following a run of six successive stalemates.

Tough test.