Paul Merson describes Brighton clash as a cup final for West Ham

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Paul Merson has claimed West Ham are facing a “cup final” when they host Brighton on Saturday afternoon in the Premier League and urged them to be more aggressive.

The Hammers go into the fixture 17th in the table only above the drop zone on goal difference, while opponents Brighton are 15th two points above them.

David Moyes has watched his team go five games in all competitions without a win and they desperately need to get a result considering their upcoming fixtures.

West Ham travel to Manchester City then Liverpool in their next two league matches after Brighton and a string of defeats could leave them right in trouble.

Sky Sports pundit Merson believes they need to try create a hostile atmosphere at the London Stadium when they welcome Brighton and stressed the importance of a victory.

“West Ham play their cup final this weekend against Brighton. The fans have to stay with them for 90 minutes because I can’t emphasise how big this match is,” Merson wrote in the Daily Star.

“They have got to go to Manchester City and Liverpool after this and if they don’t win this game they are going to be in the bottom three. Scary. Their confidence if they lose would be lower than ever, and it might be too much for David Moyes to drag them to safety then.

“The Hammers have got to make it hostile. Get in there faces and get the crowd up for it. It’s all too nice at the moment. They’ve got start ruffling some feathers.”

TBR’s View:

West Ham can’t hide away from the fact that they are in a relegation scrap and they need to focus on that, despite having plenty of potential within their squad.

They have ended up having a decent January transfer window with the arrivals of Darren Randolph, Tomas Soucek and Jarrod Bowen, with the latter arriving late on deadline day.

There definitely is enough talent in the group to push away from the relegation zone, but it will get very uncomfortable for them if they are unsuccessful against Brighton.