West Ham are without several key players as they meet Brighton in the Premier League tonight.
Kurt Zouma was a surprise absentee from the 2-0 victory over Arsenal on Thursday, with manager David Moyes revealing that his captain had suffered a knee injury in training the day before the game.
CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW WEST HAM VS BRIGHTON LIVE!
Even then, Moyes had expected to have the Frenchman fit, only for Zouma to fail a fitness test on the day of the match. He remains out on Tuesday night as Brighton come to town to kick off 2024.
Luca Paqueta, meanwhile, required treatment on a knock sustained during the warm-up against Arsenal before being deemed fit to start, but lasted little more than half an hour at the Emirates before being withdrawn, Moyes later confirming an issue at the back of the Brazilian's knee.
Paqueta is not fit for tonight as expected, while Michail Antonio remains sidelined with his own knee issue.
It had already been confirmed that Mohammed Kudus, who is carrying a knock, and Nayef Aguerd would be absent for the Hammers after their Africa Cup of Nations duty began with Ghana and Morocco, respectively.
Pablo Fornals and Said Benrahma replace Paqueta and Kudus, with Angelo Ogbonna and Konstantinos Mavropanos continuing as the centre-back pairing with no Zouma or Aguerd.
Ben Johnson also starts at right-back in place of Vladimir Coufal, with illness affecting the West Ham camp once more.
West Ham XI: Areola; Johnson, Mavropanos, Ogbonna, Emerson; Ward-Prowse, Alvarez, Soucek; Fornals, Bowen, Benrahma
Injured: Paqueta, Antonio, Zouma
Unavailable: Aguerd, Kudus
Time and date: 7:30pm GMT on Tuesday January 2, 2024
Venue: London Stadium
TV channel: Sky Sports
