BRIGHTON VS LEICESTER PREVIEW & PREDICTION
The Brighton & Hove Albion of, among others, former PSV players Davy Pröpper and Jürgen Locadia gets a visit from Leicester City on Saturday. At Leicester City they have already reached the safety limit of forty points, but at Brighton they want to get that number of points as quickly as possible.
Brighton & Hove Albion:
Brighton & Hove Albion has been active in the Premier League again since this season, and The Seagulls are still performing at the highest level for the time being. The team of Chris Hughton may not be officially certain of life retention, but that is not a lot of Premier League teams yet and nobody really expects Brighton to get it difficult in the next two months. With 34 points from thirty games, The Seagulls do well above expectations and with a twelfth place they will not be dissatisfied in the coastal city. Of course it can always be better, but Hughton seems to get the most achievable out of his team this season.
The last two duels of Brighton did not go too smoothly for The Seagulls. Brighton lost 2-0 to Everton in the league and was eliminated in the FA Cup by Manchester United a week later. With the three Dutchmen Tim Krul, Davy Pröpper and Jürgen Locadia in the base-team, Hughton saw that Brighton lost 2-0 at Old Trafford of Manchester United. Since Brighton is doing so well in the Premier League, it is a loss for The Seagulls that they met an opponent like Manchester United in the quarter finals, because otherwise there might have been more in the cup tournament for the formation of Hughton. .
For the defeats against Everton and Manchester United, however, Brighton was seven games unbeaten and The Seagulls were able to win the last three of those seven games. Hughton naturally hopes to set up another series with his team and if you just look at the clubs against which Brighton has to play in the coming period, it is certainly possible for The Seagulls to book a number of victories. With three victories from the last three home games, they at least have a lot of faith in a good result at Leicester City when they visit the American Express Community Stadium.
Leicester City:
At Leicester City they do not have to worry about a relegation to the Championship. At The Foxes there are still a lot of players who were champion Leicester in the Premier League two seasons ago and the Foxes are also pretty much where they should be. Claude Puel can not be really dissatisfied with an eighth place for Leicester City, although of course The Foxes would prefer to pass Burnley on the rankings and with that Leicester City would claim the Best of the Rest title in England.
Leicester City was also eliminated in the FA Cup for the international season. Just like Brighton, The Foxes did not hit the opponent. Still, Puel’s team lasted long in their own King Power Stadium against Chelsea. The Foxes eventually lost 1-2 of The Blues, but at Chelsea they managed to make the decisive goal only in the extension and that of course caused an extra acid feeling at Leicester.
Luckily for Puel he does not suffer much from injury cases in his selection at the moment. The Ghanaian Daniel Amartey is actually the only player that Puel just does not have access to, but for the rest his team is fit. Of course, the danger of Leicester City will also have to come from Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy, but the chance is also increasing that Vardy and Mahrez will leave next summer. Mahrez was pulled by Manchester City in the winter and Vardy is no longer the youngest with his 31 years old and the English striker may also want to take a step in the Premier League.
PREDICTION: Both teams to score / YES @ 1.94
