West Ham United vs Brentford preview, team news, tickets and prediction

West Ham United will host Brentford in a London derby in the Premier League on matchweek 26. The Hammers, who have been up and doing in all competitions this season, will have to battle with a Brentford side looking to find their lost form in the final stages of the season.

West Ham United's performance in the Premier League this season has been relatively sub-par. The Hammers have managed to scrape out results here and there but have been unable to gather any real momentum. Meanwhile, Brentford has gone from bad to worse with the absence of some key players.

During the summer, the Hammers let go of their star player and last season's club captain who led them to European glory in the Europa League last term, Declan Rice. The Englishman departed for North London's resurgent big boys Arsenal FC in a club-record transfer deal. Other exits include Gianluca Scamacca and Nikola Vlasic who joined Italian Serie A club sides Atalanta and Torino respectively, Arthur Masuaku who left for Turkish side Besiktas and Manuel Lanzini leaving for River Plate on a free transfer.

The manager, David Moyes, then made several additions to his squad, securing the services of exciting midfield talent Mohammed Kudus and Edson Alvarez from Ajax Amsterdam, English set-piece specialist James Ward-Prowse from championship side Southampton, and Greek defender Konstantinos Mavropanos from Bundesliga side VFB Stuttgart. In all, the additions have been an instant hit and have helped the Hammers challenge on all fronts this campaign.

As of the time of writing, the Hammers have 35 points from 21 games and are just eight points away from the top-four spot. Meanwhile, Brentford are just six points above the relegation zone after picking 22 points from 20 games.

Brentford missed the presence of Ivan Toney for the first half of the season. Toney, who scored 33% of Brentford's Premier League goals last season, was served with an 8-month football ban and a £50,000 fine for his gambling escapades. But with the ban completed, he is set to lead the side and play a part in their change in fortune. He scored on his return in the 3-2 win over Forest and he could help his side steer clear of the drop zone with his goals.

Meanwhile, the goals did not dry up as the duo of Yoane Wissa(deputizing for Toney) and Cameroonian international Bryan Mbeumo stepped up to provide the goals. The former is remarkably part of the special contingent of a trio of premier league players to have both scored and assisted 10-plus goals in 2023 (Bukayo Saka and Mohamed Salah).

Defensively, is where the Bees have been lacking having conceded 33 goals and accumulating a goal difference of -4 across the campaign (as of the time of writing). The acquisitions of Mark Flekken from Freiburg to replace former first-choice goalie David Raya who joined Arsenal on loan during the summer and Nathan Collins from Wolves in addition to Ben Mee, and Ethan Pinnock should have been enough to shore up the defense but it's been quite the opposite thus far.

Brentford come into the game heavy on form in terms of head-to-head having won the past two meetings in the Premier League between the two sides. However, form in the league has been bad this time but they will be banking on their form against the Hammers to boost their chances of beating the drop this campaign.

Match tickets

The epic match at London Stadium in London kicks off on Monday 26th February 2024, at 8 PM UK time.

The magnificent 62,500-capacity stadium is the place to be for this London clash between one of the European football hopefuls and a side looking to steer clear of the bottom zone.

Getting tickets for the West Ham United vs Brentford tickets could take a lot of work given the standard of this game. Hence, you are advised to search ticket reselling sites should they be expectedly sold out on each club’s channels.

Team news

Line-ups

Coach David Moyes has a relatively healthy squad with the likes of Michail Antonio, a long-term absentee, expected only to return in early February. Jarrod Bowen and Edson Alvarez have picked up slight knocks recently but should be available for this trip to Nottingham. Meanwhile, midfielder Luca Paqueta has been ruled out until March.

With that being said, Areola, who has been the number one this season, should start in goal, while Mavropanos continues to partner Zouma at the heart of the backline, and Ward-Prowse keeps his place in midfield.

West Ham United XI: Areola; Coufal, Mavropanos, Zouma, Emerson; Ward-Prowse, Alvarez, Soucek; Bowen, Ings, Fornals.

Thomas Frank has a lot of tinkering to do but he will be pleased with the return of Ivan Toney from his betting ban. Rico Henry (Knee injury) is possibly ruled out for the rest of the season, the Bees still struggle with injuries and fitness to key squad players inclusive of Bryan Mbeumo who picked up an ankle sprain in their 1-0 loss to Sheffield in December, club record signing Kevin Schade, Kristoffer Ajer, Mathias Jensen, Aaron Hickey, and Joshua DaSilva all continue to be in and out of the medical room.

Yoane Wissa could have returned from national team duties with DR Congo depending on how they finish and the same goes for Frank Onyeka who is at the AFCON tournament with Nigeria.

Brentford XI: Flekken; Ghoddos, Mee, Pinnock, Janelt; Baptiste, Norgaard, Onyeka; Maupay, Wissa, Lewis-Potter.

Prediction

The Hammers are a difficult side to beat at the London Stadium this season. As of the time of writing, West Ham have only lost twice there this season (Man City and Everton) and they will be keen to keep that run going.

As for Brentford, they need points badly and the return of Toney to their attack will boost their chances against a side chasing a European dream.

West Ham United 3-1 Brentford