Match Preview: Brighton v Leicester City

After a conveniently timed international break, Brighton and Hove Albion should return to action revitalised as a number of key players return to fitness.

Both Pascal Gross and Davy Propper are back from injury and will add some much-needed quality to the Albion. Since winning three games out of three in October, Chris Hughton’s side have lost their past two, shipping five goals along the way.

Those two defeats came on the road and it’s back to the home comforts of the Amex for the visit of Leicester City, a crucial game given the tough run of fixtures ahead which include two more away games against relegation rivals Huddersfield Town and Burnley and the small matter of Crystal Palace’s visit to Sussex.

Who are Leicester City?
Up until two years ago, Leicester were one of those solid English clubs that just sort of plodded along. They’d only spent one season outside of the top two tiers since 1894 and had a trophy cabinet that consisted of seven second tier titles, one third tier title and three League Cups. The Foxes were a solid team but nothing exciting. That all changed in 2015 when the club appointed Claudio Ranieri as manager. Having only just survived relegation from the Premier League thanks to a Great Escape in the previous campaign, most pundits thought that they’d gone insane to employ a bloke who seven months earlier had managed to lead Greece to a home defeat against the Faroe Islands. How wrong everybody was as Ranieri led the Foxes to their first Premier League title at odds of 5,000-1. It truly was the greatest fairy tale in football history and one we’re unlikely ever to see the likes of again, making Leicester a household name across the world.

What are they like now?
Understandably, it’s been impossible to reach those heights again and Leicester seemed to have struggled a little bit with that burden. Ranieri lost his job less than a year after the title triumph and his replacement Craig Shakespeare lasted six months. Claude Puel is the latest man in the hot seat trying to manage a club whose expectations seem to be a little bit all over the place and he’s actually making a pretty good job of it. Off the field, Leicester were hit with unimaginable tragedy last month when chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha’s helicopter crashed outside of the King Power Stadium after their home game with West Ham United, killing “The Boss” and four other passengers including pilot Eric Swaffer, who was from Brighton. The football community has rallied around City since the accident and given our previous experiences with air disasters, we’re sure the Albion will have something planned to mark “The Boss” passing.

Which players should we be worried about?
Leicester have a fantastic record of signing previously unheralded players and turning them into Premier League stars. Jamie Vardy is the obvious example but he’s got a talented support cast of young English players behind him with Demarai Gray, James Maddison and Ben Chillwell all having impressed this season. Luckily for the sanity of those of us who still panic anytime the opposition get a set piece, Harry Maguire and his slab head are currently injured.

What’s the Albion’s record like against Leicester?
Brighton’s head-to-head record with Leicester is actually pretty even with the Albion having won 13 of the previous 31 clashes and Leicester 14 with only five draws thrown in. Before last season, the Seagulls had lost just twice in the last 12 meetings, despite Leicester finishing below them in the table on just one occasion in that time.

What’s the best WeAreBrighton.com memory of Leicester City at home?
Leicester’s 2002 visit to Withdean Stadium was a particularly interesting game. Played in heavy mist, by the time the second half rolled around those in the South Stand couldn’t see the North and those in the North Stand couldn’t see the South. For the Foxes supporters who’d bothered to make the journey south on the last Friday before Christmas, well they couldn’t see anything and didn’t even realise Brian Deane had scored the winner given that it took place at the opposite end of the Theatre of Trees. For all anybody who was there that night knew, it could’ve finished 0-0.

What’s the worst WeAreBrighton.com memory of Leicester City at home?
Brighton hadn’t lost at home to a side outside of the top five all season until Leicester rocked up at the Amex in March. Glenn Murray missed a penalty and that was punished in ruthless style as the Foxes ran out 2-0 winners thanks to goals from Vicente Iborra and Vardy. They also finished the game with 10 men after Wilfred Ndidi was sent off in one of the worst Amex results of the season.

Whose played for both sides?
Where to start with this one? It was written in Peter Taylor’s contract that wherever he was manager, he had to take Junior Lewis with him so when he rocked up at Withdean to replace Micky Adams, it wasn’t long until Lewis was on loan on the South Coast. Likewise Adams and Paul Brooker, the winger who loved to hibernate in the winter joining the former Albion manager at the Walkers Stadium in the summer of 2003. Other men to have played for both include Trevor Benjamin, Simon Royce and Anthony Knockaert who remains a hugely popular figure with Foxes fans.

Other than football, what is Leicester famous for?
Richard III was found buried under an NCP car park in Leicester a few years ago. It’s also the home of Walkers crisps, Gary Lineker and Leicester Forest services which provides the fantastic facility of a KFC above the M1, instantly placing it at number one in any sane individuals Top 10 British Service Stations.

Where’s the betting value for Brighton v Leicester?
Nobody seems to have realised that Gross has been back in training for over two weeks now. He’s 29/10 to score anytime with FansBet, who invest 50% of their net profits back to supporters causes – so if he doesn’t net, you’ll be donating some of your losses to Brighton fans. To sign up for a FansBet account and help WeAreBrighton.com raise money, then use this link.

Prediction?
This looks to be exactly the sort of fixture that the Albion would end up drawing – a top 10 side visiting the Amex whose superior quality is cancelled out by the fact that we’re at home. The fact that there have only ever been five draws between the two though means you can probably discount a stalemate and with doubts about Vardy’s fitness as well, we’re going to be bold and plump for a 2-1 Brighton win. So you can blame us when it all goes wrong.