By Anthony Onifade

3rd Mar, 2023 | 8:10am

Misfiring Michail Antonio axed, David Moyes to make two changes - West Ham United predicted XI v Brighton

Following contrasting results in their FA Cup fifth-round ties, Brighton and West Ham return to Premier League duties with Saturday’s clash at Amex Stadium.

David Moyes’ dreadful record at Old Trafford continued on Wednesday night [1 March] as a late flurry from Manchester United put the Hammers to the sword, leading Moyes to bluntly claim that his side “blew it”.

Said Benrahma gave the Hammers the lead after half-time but an own goal from Nayef Aguerd, followed by Alejandro Garnacho and Fred strikes ended their cup run in dramatic fashion.

However, the Hammers can take solace from their last Premier League outing when they recorded their first league win since the end of January, taking them out of the drop zone in 16th place.

And Moyes will be seeking some continuation against the Seagulls on Saturday as he could well be expected to make just two changes after the Hammers for about 80 minutes impressed against Manchester United.

With Danny Ings cup-tied for the midweek FA Cup clash, the former Aston Villa will be looking to continue on from his two-goal performance against Forest last weekend, coming in place of the misfiring Michail Antonio who missed two guilt-edged chances at Old Trafford.

Jarrod Bowen also sat out the game before being introduced well into the second half, and will almost certainly take his place back from Pablo Fornals who failed to impress David Moyes in Manchester. Said Benrahma was the Hammers’ best player on the park at Old Trafford and will start again on the left flank.

Meanwhile, number one Lukasz Fabianski is confirmed to have sustained eye socket and cheekbone fractures in last week’s win over Forest – which may or may not require surgery – so Alphonse Areola can look forward to an extended period in between the sticks.

Vladimir Coufal will need assessing after missing the FA Cup defeat to Man United with a heel injury but could return against Brighton, according to injury expert Ben Dinnery. However, Johnson should continue at right-back after a rather solid showing on Wednesday night.

Maxwel Cornet and Kurt Zouma, meanwhile are also touch-and-go – the latter has a better chance of making his comeback here but could be kept in reserve for the time being.

Only Leeds United and Forest have also taken a league-low six points on their travels this season, and West Ham are still winless against Brighton since the Seagulls earned promotion in 2017 – losing each of their last two following a run of six successive stalemates. Huge task ahead for Moyes and his men.