Preview: Brighton & Hove Albion vs. Leicester City - prediction, team news, lineups

Preview: Brighton & Hove Albion vs. Leicester City - prediction, team news, lineups
Brighton & Hove Albion and Leicester City will both be looking to bounce back from midweek Premier League defeats in Sunday's top-flight battle at the Amex Stadium. The Seagulls went down 2-1 to newly-promoted Fulham last time out, while discontent is growing around the King Power after the visitors lost 1-0 to Manchester United. © Reuters Brighton's summer transfer activity was certainly highlighted by the outgoings of two integral cogs in Marc Cucurella and Yves Bissouma , but Graham Potter 's side made a bright start to another top-flight season before a trip to Craven Cottage befell them.
Aleksandar Mitrovic and a Lewis Dunk own goal put Fulham in cruise control before Brighton threatened a comeback after Alexis Mac Allister 's spot kick, but the Seagulls ultimately suffered their first defeat of the new campaign. Nevertheless, a 10-point haul from the opening 15 on offer has seen Brighton make an early charge for the Champions League spots, and the South Coast team remain in the top four at the time of writing having conceded a league-low three goals so far. Despite waving goodbye to some of their seemingly irreplaceable players, keeping the much-coveted Potter in the hotseat seems to be a consistent formula for success for Brighton, who were active on transfer deadline day with the signing of Billy Gilmour in a £9m deal from Chelsea.
Now returning to home comforts at the Amex, Brighton are yet to concede a Premier League goal on home soil this season and have now gone unbeaten in six top-flight games at their headquarters, which does not spell optimism for a hapless Leicester outfit. © Reuters Compared to their free-spending rivals, Leicester's distinctly quiet summer window sticks out like a sore thumb, and the frustrations of Brendan Rodgers were there for all to see when his side went 1-0 down to Man United on deadline day. A first-half winner from Jadon Sancho did the damage on Thursday night as Leicester's woeful start to the new season continued, and Rodgers appeared to take a swipe at the owners for a lack of incomings, as Wout Faes - one of just two arrivals - helplessly watched on.
Keeping in line with Financial Fair Play regulations is apparently the main factor behind Leicester's conservative summer approach, but failure to improve the squad has left the Foxes rooted to the bottom of the table with just one point from five games so far. Since being pegged back by Brentford on the opening day of the season, Rodgers has overseen four consecutive defeats with this Leicester side, although their two away defeats so far this term have come to top-four challengers in Chelsea and Arsenal. However, Leicester can be encouraged by the fact that Brighton have only won one of their 10 Premier League meetings since earning promotion to the big time in 2017, although that did come in a 2-1 success at the Amex last season.
© Reuters Brighton new boy Gilmour is eligible to make his debut for the hosts this weekend, but Potter will likely want to ease the Scotland international into action from the bench, especially with Moises Caicedo still on the South Coast despite late Liverpool speculation. Adam Lallana and Jakub Moder are definitely out for the Seagulls, but 20-year-old playmaker Jeremy Sarmiento could potentially make the matchday squad as he works his way back from a knee injury. Danny Welbeck and Tariq Lamptey are both pushing to return to the starting lineup after coming off the bench against Fulham, while Pascal Gross is on the verge of becoming the first Brighton player to rack up a half-century of goal involvements in the Premier League, currently sitting on 48.
Meanwhile, Leicester's deadline day arrival Faes could also make his Premier League debut for the Foxes this weekend, and the ex-Reims man may be thrust into action alongside Jonny Evans if Daniel Amartey 's muscular problem keeps him sidelined again. Wilfred Ndidi would be able to move back into midfield if that is the case, although Boubakary Soumare will have no intention of making way, while Ricardo Pereira and Ryan Bertrand remain out. Jamie Vardy struggled to make an impact for the Foxes in midweek, which will certainly benefit Kelechi Iheanacho and Patson Daka 's chances of starting this one.
Brighton & Hove Albion possible starting lineup: Sanchez; Veltman, Dunk, Webster; March, Caicedo, Gross, Estupinan; Trossard, Mac Allister; Welbeck Leicester City possible starting lineup: Ward; Justin, Faes, Evans, Castagne; Ndidi, Tielemans, Dewsbury-Hall; Maddison; Daka, Barnes The pressure on Leicester to deliver on the pitch after failing to do so in the summer transfer window could hardly be greater, and their recent record versus Brighton can at least serve to increase the confidence of the travelling fans. While Brighton are as resilient as ever at home, the defeat to Fulham may have rocked Potter's squad somewhat, and an altered Foxes attacking line is more than capable of firing the winless visitors to a point on the South Coast. For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here .
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