West Ham v Brighton: Key stats and talking points

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West Ham are bidding for a rare home win when they host Brighton, who are hoping to end their head coach's December hoodoo.

Few home comforts for Hammers

Even with a win on Tuesday, West Ham are guaranteed to reach the halfway point of the season in the relegation zone, where they have lingered for much of the campaign.

The Hammers have claimed just 13 points so far, their fewest at this stage of a league season since 2010-11, when they also had 13 points and went on to finish bottom of the top flight.

Defeat in their final game of 2025 would be a club record 12th at home in a calendar year and would cement 12 months of wretched form at London Stadium, where home fans did not see a win from the end of February to the beginning of November.

This time last year, West Ham head coach Nuno Espirito Santo was overseeing a 10th league win for Nottingham Forest, who began 2025 in second place. That must feel a long time ago for Nuno, whose Hammers' side have won three times this season and now face a real battle to avoid relegation.

In the course of steering Forest into Europe for the first time in 30 years, Nuno's side registered a famous 7-0 home win over Tuesday's opponents Brighton.

Given West Ham have scored just 10 goals in total in their nine Premier League home games this season, a repeat of that scoreline seems unlikely. But beleaguered Hammers fans would settle for any sort of a win that would give them some hope going into the new year.

The image displays a table from Opta and the BBC detailing the worst home records for five clubs in the Premier League during 2025.
Wolves have the worst record, with 12 defeats and only 15 points from 19 games played.
West Ham and Tottenham both recorded 11 defeats and 15 points from 18 games.
Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace have better records, with 25 points each from 19 games.
The data suggests a challenging year for the clubs listed, particularly the bottom three, in their home fixtures.

Brighton have never lost a Premier League match at West Ham (W2, D6) but the time as well as the place might be problematic on Tuesday, as Fabian Hurzeler is yet to see his side win in December, a run that has now stretched to 11 matches.

The Seagulls were in the top five going into this month but three defeats and two draws have seen them slip into the bottom half of the table.

The image displays a table titled "Brighton's December doldrums" which details Brighton & Hove Albion's Premier League performance in December under manager Fabian Hürzeler across the 2024 and 2025 seasons.
Brighton played 11 matches in total across the two Decembers.
The team did not secure a single win, recording 0 victories, 6 draws, and 5 losses.
All matches listed for December 2025 resulted in a loss or a draw.
The team's first match of December 2024 was a 3-1 loss to Fulham, and the last match shown, on December 27, 2025, was a 2-1 loss to Arsenal.

Brighton were a David Raya fingertip away from earning a draw at Arsenal, having come alive in the second half after being dominated in the opening 45 minutes.

Slow starts away from home are something that have dogged the Seagulls this season. They have a gone a goal down within 25 minutes of seven of their nine Premier League games on the road, with five of those ending in defeat.

On top of this, Brighton have only won their final league game in one of the past five calendar years (D2, L2). A more solid start against a struggling side could see them end 2025 on a high – and an end to Hurzeler's December curse.

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