Leicester City vs Brighton and Hove Albion. Premier League.
The King Power StadiumAttendance31,902.
Saturday 19 August 2017 13:55, UK
Leicester forward Kelechi Iheanacho is a doubt to face Brighton on Saturday as he continues to struggle with a toe injury.
The summer signing from Manchester City made his Foxes debut in Leicester's 4-3 defeat to Arsenal on the opening day of the season.
But a lingering toe issue has forced Iheanacho to visit a specialist and a late decision will be made on his availability for the match at the King Power.
"He has had a bit of discomfort with his toe," said manager Craig Shakespeare in his pre-match press conference. "He's been to see a specialist and we're trying to give him time to recover from it.
Brighton's first-ever Premier League game ended in a 2-0 defeat to title contenders Manchester City but Shakespeare expects a difficult test.
"I think any team that comes up has that momentum," he added. "They had a difficult game against Man City but they've done ever so well over the last 18 months."
Chris Hughton's side will be without Izzy Brown, who has temporarily returned to Chelsea for treatment after injuring his hamstring against City.
Iheanacho is a game-time decision, while Danny Drinkwater (thigh), Vicente Iborra (groin), Robert Huth (ankle) and Nampalys Mendy (ankle) are all making progress but are not yet ready for first-team involvement.
Brown is Brighton's only new injury absentee.
Record signing Jose Izquierdo has not trained with his new team yet and will not be involved against the Foxes, while Beram Kayal (broken leg) and Sam Baldock (knee) remain sidelined with long-term injuries.
These two sides last met in the 2013-14 season in which Leicester won the Championship, with the Foxes losing both clashes, equating to a third of their total defeats in that campaign.
Brighton won home and away in their last encounters with Leicester in the top-flight in 1980-81.
Leicester are unbeaten in their last 12 Premier League home fixtures against newly-promoted sides, winning seven and drawing five since a 5-0 loss to Bolton in August 2001.
Leicester won five of their seven Premier League home games under Craig Shakespeare last season (D1 L1), but did end the season without a win in their last two, including a 6-1 defeat to Spurs.
Since the start of the 2014-15 season, only one Englishman (James Milner, 21) has provided more Premier League assists than Jamie Vardy (19).
Brighton summer signing Pascal Gross covered more distance on MD1 than any other Premier League player (12.8 KM).
Brighton forward Anthony Knockaert made 109 competitive appearances for Leicester City, scoring 16 goals overall. He failed to score in any of his nine Premier League appearances for the Foxes, however.
Vardy was one of four players to register a brace on the Premier League's opening weekend, however he was the only one to do so with a 100 per cent shot conversion rate (two shots, two goals).
I thought Leicester were really good against Arsenal. They let in a lot of goals but they always looked like scoring and I expect them to have too much for Brighton.
It was a tough start for Chris Hughton's against Manchester City but they didn't show too much.
PAUL PREDICTS: 3-0 (12/1 with Sky Bet)
Leicester are marginally odds-on at 3/4 to see off Brighton, who are 19/5 for the victory and 13/5 for a draw. Vardy is the 7/2 first goalscorer favourite and 100/30 for another brace, while Tomer Hemed and Glenn Murray lead the visitors' side of the market at 15/2 apiece.
