Brighton vs. Leicester City
Venue: Amex Stadium
Kick off: 9PM
Two teams aiming to turn their Premier League fortunes around following underwhelming results last time out meet at the Amex Stadium this evening as Brighton & Hove Albion play host to Leicester City.
Graham Potter’s side controversially lost 1-0 at West Bromwich Albion in their most recent outing, whereas Leicester walked away from their midweek clash at Burnley with a share of the spoils in a 1-1 draw.
Two missed penalties, a Kyle Bartley header and a farcical VAR episode all contributed to Brighton’s downfall at West Brom last weekend, as the Baggies claimed a vital win over their fellow relegation rivals at The Hawthorns in hugely controversial fashion.
Referee Lee Mason ultimately decided to chalk off Lewis Dunk’s free kick due to the fact that his whistle had blown a second time before the ball crossed the line – a decision the Brighton captain blasted as “horrendous” – while Pascal Gross and Danny Welbeck missed from the spot on a confidence-sapping day for the Seagulls.
Graham Potter was not as furious with the official as his skipper was after the match, but the Brighton manager must have spent the entire 90 minutes waiting for some luck to fall the way of the visitors, who are now winless in five across all competitions.
It is at times like these where Glenn Murray would normally come to the fore for a goal-shy Brighton, with Neal Maupay having now gone seven games without a goal in the Premier League, but Potter must move quickly to find a solution to his side’s attacking woes if Brighton are to make their relatively bright start to the year count for something.
The 16th-placed Seagulls remain three points clear of the drop zone and will be thankful that the sides around them are flattering to deceive as well, but January’s 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur remains their sole home triumph in the league this term before they meet a Leicester side with the best away record in the whole division.
When Jamie Vardy cannot find his shooting boots, up steps Kelechi Iheanacho, whose delightful volley ensured that an injury-hit Leicester would claim a point from their meeting with Burnley after Matej Vydra took just four minutes to capitalise on Hamza Choudhury’s error and break the deadlock.
The striker’s excellent finish ensured that the Foxes would not suffer three successive defeats for the first time this season after previous losses to Arsenal and Slavia Prague, but their spot in the Champions League places will undoubtedly come under threat if more points do not start to accumulate soon.
Brendan Rodgers’s men have won four out of their last six in the top flight, but failure to take all three points home from the Amex would see them go three games without a win in the Premier League for the first time since June, although the third-placed Foxes know how to produce the goods on rival territory.
Indeed, Rodgers’s side have only lost one away game in the top flight all season and are unbeaten in their last nine, and having followed a pattern of winning one and drawing one away from home since the turn of the year, the King Power faithful could be forgiven for expecting that trend to continue, especially as second-placed Manchester United are now just one point clear.
Since earning promotion to the big time, Brighton have lost five and drawn two of their seven meetings with Leicester, who already overcame the Seagulls 3-0 in the league and 1-0 in the FA Cup earlier in the season.
Brighton possible XI: Sanchez, Veltman, White, Dunk, Burn, Bissouma, Gross, Jahanbakhsh, Lallana, Trossard, Welbeck.
Leicester City possible XI: Schmeichel, Amartey, Soyuncu, Fofana, Ndidi, Pereira, Tielemans, Mendy, Castagne. Vardy, Iheanacho.
