Leicester kicked off this Premier League season in some style last Friday as they made the trip to The Emirates to face Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal. In what was a pulsating encounter that saw no less than seven goals it was the ideal start to this campaign.
For the neutral that is. For Leicester questions will be asked as to how they managed to get their noses in front twice and still end up with nothing to show for it. Manager Craig Shakespeare will of course be able to take positives from the performance as scoring three goals away from home is nothing to complain about.
But ultimately people will point to bad game management from the players as they conceded goals at crucial times, one in first half injury time for Arsenal to level at 2-2 and then two in the last ten minutes which saw The Gunners complete their comeback.
Today though they will look to get themselves off the mark as they play host to newly promoted Brighton. Chris Hughton’s men also suffered defeat on the opening weekend of the season as they played host to Manchester City and their cabal of superstars.
Pep Guardiola’s men eventually ran out 2-0 winners at The AMEX and you would have to say that Brighton were masters of their own downfall. It was a performance that would have earned a large portion of respect as they were not lacking in determination.
But with City’s constantly chipping away at Brighton, mistakes began to creep in and they would eventually be punished not once but twice. It was a gallant performance in what was Brighton’s Premier League debut but one that left them empty handed.
That however was something of a free hit last weekend as although the belief would have been high, the expectations would have perhaps been a bit more realistic. Today will prove to be the real acid test as to just how this team can perform at this level.
They will have to be wary of Jamie Vardy who opened his account last Friday with two well taken goals, with the England international already up and running for the season he will certainly fancy his chances of adding to his tally later today.
That is one area where Brighton are lacking at present though, on the basis of their performance last weekend one of things that you did take away from it was just where exactly are the goals going to come from. There is no doubting the application of the squad but where is the real quality that is required.
That is something that does not come cheap and although Chris Hughton has been backed in the transfer market, you do get the feeling that he may well have break the clubs transfer record once again to find the goalscorer required to give them the best possible chance of staying up.
Former Brighton forward Leonardo Ulloa is unlikely to feature today after being so far down the Leicester forward pecking order while former Leicester winger Anthony Knockeart could be in line for inclusion from the start after only being a substitute last week.
I think Leicester will be able to take the more positives from defeat last week and should be able to combine that with a home fixture to good advantage. This will be more of an even contest for Brighton but one that ultimately The Foxes will win. Seagulls to not be flying high this evening as it’s a home win for me.
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— Dan Tracey (@dantracey1983) August 18, 2017