West Ham United Women will attempt to end a four-game winless run when they face Brighton & Hove Albion Women in Sunday's Women's Super League contest at the Chigwell Construction Stadium.
The visitors, meanwhile, will have the chance to claim a second straight victory after beating Leicester City last weekend.
Match preview
Having mustered 12 points from 17 matches, West Ham are currently languishing in 11th place with five games left to play in the WSL season.
Despite experiencing a difficult campaign, the Hammers still boast a sizable six-point cushion to basement side Bristol City.
Although they are on course to preserve their top-flight status, West Ham will be determined to halt their four-game winless run, which began with a 2-0 defeat to Everton.
The Hammers went on to draw with Manchester United and lose to Liverpool, before they were beaten 2-0 in last Sunday's home meeting with leaders Chelsea.
West Ham will be hoping to bounce back this weekend as they go in search of a league double over Brighton after recording a 2-0 victory in October's reverse league fixture.
Brighton are sitting in eighth position and five points above West Ham after winning two of their last three league matches.
Mikey Harris's side established a 2-1 lead in their most recent game against Leicester thanks to a Lize Kop own goal and a Katie Robinson effort.
Although Lena Petermann levelled the scoreline in the 84th minute, Elisabeth Terland quickly found the net to clinch a second consecutive away win.
Despite taking six points from a possible nine, the Seagulls will be slightly concerned with the fact thatthey conceded nine goals during that period.
Having gone 11 league games without a clean sheet, Brighton may view Sunday's contest as a golden opportunity to record a shutout against the WSL's second-lowest scorers.
- W
- L
- W
- L
- L
- W
Team News
West Ham boss Rehanne Skinner has confirmed that midfielder Katrina Gorry will miss the remainder of the season after picking up an ankle injury in the defeat to Chelsea.
In addition to Gorry's absence, the Hammers are expected to be without Abbey-Leigh Stringer and Kristie Mewis due to injury.
Riko Ueki found the net in October's reverse league fixture, and she will have the chance to score against the Seagulls again when she leads the line in Sunday's contest.
Meanwhile, Brighton centre-back Maria Thorisdottir will be forced to sit out a second straight match due to an injury issue.
Haley could be rewarded with a starting spot after she came off the bench to provide an assist for the winning goal against Leicester.
Terland will continue to offer one of Brighton's main goal threats, having scored 12 times in 17 league matches this season.
West Ham United Women possible starting lineup:
Arnold; Cissoko, Tysiak, Zadorsky; Shimizu, Hayashi, Bergman-Lundin, Smith; Ziu, Asseyi; Ueki
Brighton & Hove Albion Women possible starting lineup:
Baggaley; Li, Bergsvand, Carabali, Pattinson; Pinto, Losada, Zigiotti Olme; Robinson, Haley, Robinson
We say: West Ham United Women 1-3 Brighton & Hove Albion Women
Brighton have taken maximum points from their last two away matches against teams currently below them in the league table, and we think that they will produce another strong away performance to claim maximum points on Sunday.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
body check tags ::
Previews by email
