Brighton & Hove Albion will be looking to stretch their unbeaten run in the Premier League to six matches when they travel to the King Power Stadium to face Leicester City on Sunday afternoon.
The Seagulls are currently ninth in the table, picking up 29 points from their 21 league games this term, while Leicester are 10th, four points behind their opponents here with two matches in hand.
Match preview
© Reuters
Leicester have not been able to launch a top-four challenge thus far this season, with a total of 25 points from 19 matches leaving them in 10th spot in the table, some 12 points behind fourth-placed West Ham United.
The Foxes were on the verge of securing what would have been a huge three points against Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday, leading Antonio Conte's side 2-1 entering the final exchanges, but Steven Bergwijn scored in the 95th and 97th minute to hand Spurs a 3-2 victory at the King Power Stadium.
Leicester have now lost three of their last five in the league, but they have been victorious in three of their last four Premier League fixtures at the King Power Stadium, beating Watford, Newcastle United and Liverpool.
Brendan Rodgers's side have struggled badly with injuries this season, and they are entering a difficult run of games, facing Liverpool and West Ham in their next two league matches after this one, in addition to travelling to Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup at the start of February.
The FA Cup holders suffered a 2-1 loss to Brighton in the Premier League at the Amex back in September but were 3-0 winners in the corresponding match at the King Power Stadium last term.
© Reuters
Brighton, meanwhile, will enter the contest off the back of a 1-1 draw with Chelsea on Tuesday evening, with Adam Webster cancelling out a first-half goal from Hakim Ziyech at the Amex.
The Seagulls are unbeaten in their last five matches in England's top flight, beating Brentford and Everton, in addition to drawing with Chelsea (home and away) and Crystal Palace.
The visitors will be without head coach Graham Potter this weekend, as the Englishman has tested positive for coronavirus, so assistant manager Billy Reid will lead the team.
Brighton have won six, drawn 11 and lost four of their 21 Premier League matches this season to collect 29 points, which has left them in ninth position in the table, just two points behind eighth-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers, so it has been a brilliant campaign for the club to date.
The Seagulls have also lost just one of their 10 away top-flight matches this season, holding West Ham, Southampton and Chelsea, in addition to beating Everton, in their last four on their travels.
- D
- L
- W
- L
- W
- L
- W
- L
- L
- W
- W
- L
- L
- W
- D
- W
- D
- D
- W
- D
- W
- W
- D
- D
Team News
© Reuters
Leicester will again be without the services of Timothy Castagne, Wesley Fofana, Ricardo Pereira, Ryan Bertrand, Jamie Vardy and Jonny Evans for this weekend's contest through injury.
Meanwhile, Wilfred Ndidi, Kelechi Iheanacho and Nampalys Mendy are still unavailable for selection due to their involvement in the Africa Cup of Nations.
Daniel Amartey is back after representing Ghana at the Africa Cup of Nations, though, and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall has been passed fit, having struggled with cramp against Tottenham.
James Justin could now start after featuring off the bench against Spurs, while Harvey Barnes is also likely to come into the starting XI for the home side this weekend.
As for Brighton, assistant head coach Reid said during his pre-match press conference that Shane Duffy and Adam Lallana will both be unavailable for selection this weekend.
The Seagulls will also be missing Jeremy Sarmiento, Enock Mwepu, Jason Steele and Yves Bissouma for the contest with the Foxes.
Lewis Dunk, though, will be considered for a spot in the squad if the central defender comes through Saturday's training session without any issues.
Neal Maupay and Leandro Trossard both started on the bench against Chelsea last time out but are likely to return to the starting XI for Sunday's clash at the King Power Stadium.
Leicester City possible starting lineup:
Schmeichel; Justin, Amartey, Soyuncu, Thomas; Dewsbury-Hall, Tielemans; Lookman, Maddison, Barnes; Daka
Brighton & Hove Albion possible starting lineup:
Sanchez; Veltman, Webster, Burn, Cucurella; Moder, Gross; Lamptey, Mac Allister, Trossard; Maupay
We say: Leicester City 1-1 Brighton & Hove Albion
Brighton are a team to be taken extremely seriously in the Premier League this season, and we find it difficult to back the Seagulls to lose on their travels considering their form. Leicester will again be missing a number of important players, meanwhile, so we have had to settle on a low-scoring draw here.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Leicester City win with a probability of 42.55%. A win for Brighton & Hove Albion had a probability of 31.92% and a draw had a probability of 25.5%.
The most likely scoreline for a Leicester City win was 1-0 with a probability of 9.75%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.92%) and 2-0 (7.19%). The likeliest Brighton & Hove Albion win was 0-1 (8.22%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.11%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 12.1% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted a 1-1 draw for this match.
