European hopefuls Brighton and relegation-haunted Leicester City staged an engaged 2-2 draw on Saturday at the Amex Stadium.
The 19th-place Foxes twice answered Brighton goals to break their long goal drought and snare a point, but they’re 14 points back of safety with just 18 left to win.
WATCH – Brighton v Leicester full match replay
Stephy Mavididi and Caleb Okoli scored those equalizers, as a pair of Joao Pedro penalties were all the Seagulls could muster despite a strong home showing on the ball.
The Seagulls piled up 4.04 expected goals on 21 shots, putting seven on target, but they conceded 15 shot attempts to a Foxes team that had been blanked for seven-straight Premier League outings.
The draw leaves Brighton ninth with 48 points, behind Fulham on goal differential.
Seagulls ‘almost season’ cries for retention of stars
This game is an exaggerated example of what’s stopped Brighton from reaching its goals the past few seasons under Roberto De Zerbi and now Fabian Hurzeler, two good managers who have a ceiling. Brighton’s gaudy expected goals total and failure to match it has an unlucky stench emanating from it, but the fact is that the Seagulls have sold so many high-quality players who help make sure the proverbial juice comes from the squeeze. Brighton are third in the Premier League in big chances missed this season and they are seventh in possession. It’s laudable and even understandable that Brighton are in a position where they are lamenting where they could be instead of just thanking goodness they aren’t relegation fodder, but would De Zerbi (or Graham Potter) still be here, or Hurzeler’s team be in the top-five if the Seagulls were able to keep a few of Alexis Mac Allister, Moises Caicedo, Marc Cucurella, Yves Bissouma, Leandro Trossard, or Ben White (Dan Burn and Pascal Gross were pulled away for more emotional reasons)? Clearly Brighton have a terrific midfielder algorithm, but it would be fun to see what Brighton will look like if they can hang onto Joao Pedro, Carlos Baleba, and others. It’ll probably take European qualification to do that, and this match didn’t help that.
Brighton vs Leicester City player ratings
(from fotmob.com)
Brighton vs Leicester City player ratings (from fotmob.com)
Brighton vs Leicester City player ratings (from fotmob.com)
What’s next?
Brighton go to Brentford at 10am ET Saturday, while Leicester City host Liverpool at 11:30am the following day (Sunday, April 20).
How to watch Brighton vs Leicester live, stream link and start time
Kick off time: 10am ET Saturday (April 12)
Venue: Amex Stadium — Falmer
TV Channel: Peacock
Streaming: Stream live on Peacock
Brighton vs Leicester final score: 2-2
Joao Pedro pen 31', 55', Stephy Mavididi 39', Caleb Okoli 74'
Brighton vs Leicester live updates — By Nick Mendola
Caleb Okoli goal — Brighton 2-2 Leicester City (74th minute)
A glancing header and it’s 2-2.
Joao Pedro penalty goal — Brighton 2-1 Leicester City (55th minute)
Luke Thomas’ hold in the box leads to a long VAR review and another Brighton penalty.
Pedro finishes well, changing up his aim from the first goal.
Halftime — Brighton 1-1 Leicester City
We’ll take it, in terms of entertainment for a neutral.
Brighton could be well in front but the Foxes have hung in there and made the most of their chances through the flair of El Khannouss and the dogged determination of Mavididi.
Shots are 14-5 to the Seagulls but the score line is level.
Stephy Mavididi goal — Brighton 1-1 Leicester City (39th minute)
Bilal El Khannouss flashing his attacking nous as he drives the middle of the pitch with a cutting run.
The Moroccan lays out wide to Stephy Mavididi, who sees his initial attempt blocked but lashes the rebound into the goal.
Joao Pedro penalty goal — Brighton 1-0 Leicester City (31st minute)
It’s a yellow card and a penalty for the Seagulls.
Joao Pedro goes to the spot to face Hermansen at the half-hour mark.
He rolls it opposite Hermansen for his ninth Premier League goal of the season.
Brighton penalty shout!
Adingra rips a shot into the box and Conor Coady flexes his arm to block a goalward shout.
Not a penalty on the field but VAR seems likely to overturn the call on the field.
Simon Adingra the danger man
Ivorian attacker Simon Adingra has been catching the eye today and he’s got Leicester City’s Caleb Okoli on his shoulder as he races into the box and forces a good save out of Mads Hermansen.
Almost all Brighton early.
0-0, 15'.
Early yellow card
Carlos Baleba picks off a pass and shows lethal speed dribbling down the center of the pitch, and Leicester’s Bilal El Khannouss is caught off guard and takes an eighth-minute tactical foul with a pull on the arm.
Brighton lineup
Verbruggen, Estupinan, Dunk, Ayari, O’Riley, Baleba, Hinshelwood, Adingra, Minten, Pedro, Welbeck
Leicester lineup
Hermansen, Justin, Coady, Okoli, Thomas, Soumare, Ndidi, Mavididi, El Khannouss, McAteer, Vardy
Brighton vs Leicester preview — By Joe Prince-Wright
Fabian Hurzeler’s side are still in the hunt for a Champions League spot but Europa League qualification seems more likely. They lost 2-1 at bitter rivals Crystal Palace last weekend and that continued a run of three-straight defeats in a week in all competitions as they lost ground in the European hunt. Still, given all of their injury issues it has still be a very solid season for the Seagulls.
The same cannot be said for Leicester who were beaten 3-0 at home by Newcastle on Monday and set an unwanted record of becoming the first team in the history of the football league to lose eight games in a row at home without scoring a goal. Ruud van Nistelrooy has picked up seven points from 18 games in charge and Leicester are 15 points from safety with seven games to go as a run of 15 defeats from their last 16 games has been utterly woeful. They are destined for relegation straight back to the Championship.
Brighton team news, focus
The Seagulls will likely go with Joao Pedro, Minteh and Mitoma in attack and they do create so many chances each game but have to be a bit more clinical. If they score early the confidence will start flowing.
OUT: Jan Paul van Hecke (suspension), Joel Veltman (ankle), Adam Webster (thigh), Tariq Lamptey (ankle), Igor Julio (hamstring), Jason Steele (shoulder), James Milner (thigh), Ferdi Kadioglu (toe), Georginio Rutter (ankle)
Leicester team news, focus
At this point Leicester are just trying to get to the end of the season without embarrassing themselves and will sit back, defend deep and try to unleash Daka, Vardy, El Khannouss and Mavididi on the counter.
OUT: Facundo Buonanotte (loan - unable to face parent club), Harry Winks (internal discipline), Abdul Fatawu (knee - out for season)
Brighton vs Leicester prediction
This is going to be a pretty straightforward home win with Brighton’s trickery and intensity out wide too much for Leicester to handle. Brighton 3-0 Leicester.
