Brighton v Leicester: The Foxes view with Leicester Till I Die

“I’ve spoken to you more times in three months than I have my ex-wife in the past year,” said Chris from Leicester Till I Die as we kicked off our customary chat ahead of the third Brighton & Hove Albion v Leicester City match of the season.

The Foxes have certainly enjoyed the better of the fixture so far. Two Leicester wins in 2020-21 feeds into an overall record which reads six victories and two draws from eight meetings since Brighton won promotion to the Premier League in 2017.

And yet there is hope for the Albion on this occasion. Brendan Rodgers brings his side south riddled with injuries to some crucial players. As Chris explains, so bad has the Foxes’ absentee list become that Rodgers has had to start changing formation to fit the few individuals he has available into a system.

What does that mean for Brighton’s chances of another good result against a top four chasing team? And could it cause Leicester to fall away from Champions League qualification, as happened so painfully last season?

For the third time this season, Chris gives us the Leicester Till I Die take on Brighton v Leicester.

It is only a month since Leicester and Brighton last faced each other. What did you make of our FA Cup meeting at the King Power?
The snooze fest you mean. Leicester 1-0 Brighton was one of the most boring games of football we have been involved in this season. Were it not for King Kelechi Iheanacho who who decided it was too cold to play for another 30 minutes, I think we would both still be playing now and it would be 0-0.

From a Leicester point of view, it was a good ending. Perhaps less so for Brighton as you took your eyes off the game, we took the quick corner and the rest… well, you know.

We never score from corners either, so to do so in a game in which injury time was more exciting the rest of the 90 minutes put together was good.

You drew Manchester United in the next round of the competition. Do you think Leicester could go onto win the competition?
We can but prey. Four times Leicester have been the bridesmaid but never the bride. That is more than any other team. But why not end that this season?

League form goes out the window when it comes to cup games and Manchester United are not exactly firing on all cylinders at the moment. We are in the quarter finals for the second year in a row so why not win it?

Leicester’s current injury crisis is well documented. How badly do you think that will hamper for your top four hopes over the coming weeks?
Well, it is not going to help. It has been the story of our season. For the first dozen games we had horrendous injury problems with our entire first choice back four all out and 11 players in total on the medical table.

Brendan Rodgers has done an amazing job considering our injury crisis and we are the only team to have spent the entire season in the top four so far. Should we fall out at the end again like last season it would not be his fault.

With so many players absent, what sort of shape will Leicester come to the Amex in?
Bad shape! It was nice to see Wesley Fofana come back on for a cameo role against Burnley, but Harvey Barnes, James Justin and James Maddison are all out.

Brendan likes his 4-2-3-1 formation but the missing players means he as gone 4-4-2 and 3-5-1-1 in the past two games. Our formation will depend on the players he has available. In all honesty, your guess at our starting XI would be as good as mine – he might even give the tea lady a kit and tell she has got a game.

Leicester are one of those sides who seem to play better away than at home. What can we expect to see from them at the Amex?
It has looked that way this season although we are improving at home. I think we will hold back at the start as I expect you to come right at us.

We played Wednesday night, you have had a week off so you should be the stronger and fresher and after those last two results, you must be looking over your shoulder right now. I think we will hit you on the break as the longer it stays 0-0 the more desperate you will get.

Are there any weaknesses which Graham Potter should try and exploit?
Our back four is our weakness. Brendan is selecting players who are least injured to fit into a makeshift defence and that makes us vulnerable.

Finally, what is the Leicester Till I Die prediction for Brighton v Leicester?
It will be a tight game but I am going for a 2-1 win to Leicester.

Thanks to Chris for answering our questions before Brighton and Leicester – you can keep up with the Foxes over on Leicester Till I Die and they are also on Twitter.