West Ham trying to strengthen squad ahead of Brighton clash

The Seagulls have been a bogey team for the Hammers since being promoted to the Premier League, as the London side are yet to register a win against Albion in England's top fight.

Out of the ten games the two sides have played in the Premier League, Albion have won four, including a brilliant 3-1 win at the Amex in the final game of last season, with the other six games ending in draws.

Albion's Danny Welbeck scored against West Ham in the final game of last season

After that game, West Ham manager David Moyes told The Argus that his side "probably" have a mental block when it comes to playing Albion as they have not been able to beat them in so long.

The last time Albion were on the losing side to West Ham was back in the Championship when the Hammers ran out 6-0 winners after Ricardo Vaz Te's hat-trick in 2012.

The Hammers have started this season as they ended the previous season, in poor form with a thin squad.

The club have already added five players to the squad during the summer. Striker Gianluca Scamacca, midfielders Flynn Downes and Maxwell Cornet, defender Nayef Aguerd and goalkeeper Alphonse Areola have all made moves to the London Stadium.

However, Aguerd picked up an injury during pre-season and will be out until after the World Cup and this has left a big hole in the West Ham defence.

The Morrocan defender is joined by other centre-backs Craig Dawson and Angelo Ogbonna on the sidelines, which has seen full-back Ben Johnson deputise alongside Kurt Zouma in the centre of defence.

The Hammers lost long-time captain Mark Noble, Andriy Yarmolenko, Issa Diop, Ryan Fredericks, Arthur Masuaku, Alex Kral and Aji Alese as they all left the club for various reasons.

This has made West Ham's squad even thinner than before, but that could change before Albion plays them on Sunday.

Chelsea's Emerson Palmieri is one target for West Ham

Moyes is trying to sign a new full-back, a centre-back and an attacking midfielder this week as he tries to turn the season around following their losing start to the campaign.

West Ham lost on the opening day of the season to champions Manchester City 2-0 as Erling Haaland netted a brace on his Premier League debut and were then beaten by newly promoted side Nottingham Forest 1-0 on Sunday.

Chelsea left-back Emerson Palmieri and PSG centre-back Thilo Kehrer could join the Hammers for a combined fee of nearly £30million, which could improve the leaky defence.

Kehrer is due in London for a medical after the club agreed to a deal with PSG.

In the attack, they have had an £8.4m bid rejected for Club Brugge star Hans Vanaken, but it is expected that the Hammers will make an improved offer for the towering midfielder.

Hans Vanaken (left) has scored 101 goals and provided 72 assists in 342 games for Club Brugge

For the trio to play against Albion, West Ham must sign them and register them before Friday's deadline and even then, they will have had a very limited time to train with their new teammates.

The Hammers may also have to rotate some players as they have a crucial Europa Conference League play-off against Danish side Viborg FF on Thursday night, although Aaron Cresswell and Declan Rice will miss that game through suspension following bans carrying on from last season.

Cresswell saw red in the semi-final of the Europa League against Eintracht Frankfurt and Rice was given a two-game ban after calling Spanish referee Jesus Gil Manzan 'corrupt' in the tunnel after the game.

Moyes will also miss the Hammer's qualification matches as he was given a one-game ban for kicking a ball at a ballboy during the match in a show of frustration during the defeat in Germany.