West Ham United vs Brentford

London Stadium is the venue as West Ham United and Brentford lock horns in an all-London Premier League match-up.

Despite taking the lead midway through the first half on their Boxing Day trip to Arsenal, West Ham found themselves on the wrong side of a 3-1 scoreline at full-time, extending their losing Premier League streak to four matches. Another disappointing result left them only one point clear of the drop zone, putting manager David Moyes under heavy scrutiny ahead of West Ham’s bid to arrest a two-game losing home run in league action. Yet while they thumped Watford 4-1 in their final league match of 2021, the London Stadium faithful could witness a different narrative this time around, given that the ‘Hammers’ lost both last season’s Premier League encounters against Brentford. A similar scenario would see West Ham lose three consecutive home league outings for the first time since December 2019.

On the other hand, Brentford came close to pulling off another upset after their iconic 2-1 win at Manchester City in November, yet they spurned a 2-0 lead in an action-packed 2-2 draw against Tottenham Hotspur on Boxing Day. Worryingly enough, the ‘Bees’ are now winless in their last six Premier League London derbies (D4, L2), while the abovementioned toppling of Man City marked their first win in eight away league fixtures this season (D4, L3). Except for a scoreless draw at Bournemouth in early October, Thomas Frank’s men have failed to keep a clean sheet on their remaining seven top-flight travels in 2022/23, conceding 2+ goals on five occasions. Particularly vulnerable before halftime, they are one of only four sides to have shipped 10+ first-half goals this season.