By Azeem Siddiqui

19th Aug, 2022 | 11:10am

Paul Merson predicts draw for West Ham v Brighton clash

Paul Merson has West Ham United to pick up their first Premier League point of the season on Sunday afternoon against Brighton & Hove Albion.

The Sky Sports pundit has predicted that it will finish 1-1 at the London Stadium after starting the season with two defeats against Manchester City and Nottingham Forest.

In a column for Sportkeeda, Merson stated that the game is turning out to be a must-win for the Irons after losing the first two matches but it’s hard to separate both teams.

“West Ham punched above their weight last season,” he wrote. “But they have started the 2022-23 Premier League campaign with two losses.

“Brighton beat Manchester United in their first game of the new campaign, but you never quite know what you’re going to get from them.

“If West Ham fail to get three points here, the nerves will start kicking in and suddenly, all the hype around their season will dissipate. That said, I can’t separate these two teams at the moment, so I’m going for a 1-1 draw.”

Big match

West Ham entered the season with a lot of optimism after having a more than impressive campaign where they finished in the seventh spot in the Premier League and also played in the semi-final of the UEFA Europa League.

However, back-to-back defeats in the first two matches against reigning champions Manchester City and against newly-promoted side Nottingham Forest have served a serious blow to their ambitions for this season.

It is important that manager David Moyes must do their all and ensure that his team will open their account against Brighton on Sunday as another defeat would mean that they will be some distance behind others competing for a spot in the top-six.

But for Moyes and his players, the job is not going to be an easy one as they will go up against a team whom they’ve never defeated in the Premier League era, losing four times and ending six matches as a draw [Transfermarkt].