Leicester City XI
Danny Ward 6
Embed from Getty ImagesIt was a quiet night between the sticks for The Foxes reserve goalkeeper with few shots to contest against, but when called upon Ward displayed some confident, composed goalkeeping. Also, his distribution was fairly impressive as he found a good balance between when to go long and when to keep possession and draw the Brighton press in.
Vontae Daley-Campbell 6
Embed from Getty ImagesThe ex-Arsenal academy man gave an all-around good showing on debut. On a few occasions in the first half he demonstrated numerous times his ability to distribute and play balls in through the lines from the wing-back spot, which was vital in order to counteract Brighton’s somewhat relentless press throughout the game. However, in the second half particularly he had a tough time one on one defending and dove in hastily a few times causing a disruption in the teams defensive shape.
Daniel Amartey 6
Embed from Getty ImagesHe seems to be a favourite of Brendan Rodgers when playing a three across the back due to his versatility, athleticism and ability on the ball. He had a lot of the ball in the first half and showed good composure in that regard, but the Ghanaian struggled to create the angles for progressive passes either into the front three or into the pivot resulting in a lot of stagnant sideways passages of play.
Caglar Soyuncu 7
Embed from Getty ImagesIn being the anchor of the three centre backs Soyuncu showed how much he has developed in terms of his defensive leadership. Multiple times he bailed Leicester out with his recovery defensive runs showing tremendous pace in the process.
James Justin 6 (74)
Embed from Getty ImagesIt really was heartbreaking to see the young fullback come off in what looks like a possible ACL injury, as he has arguably been Leicester’s most consistent player this season while playing in multiple positions. Just like tonight as he occupied the right side of the three in defence. So Justin was limited in what he was able to do going forward which is one of the things that makes him so great is his inverted runs on the inside of the opposition full-back. But he was solid defensively and won his aerial battles, he was very competent as ever until his unfortunate injury.
Luke Thomas 5
Embed from Getty ImagesA very quiet night for Thomas. He had very limited chances to get forward and get balls into the box which is what his game is all about. Due to the fact that Ayoze Perez was in front of him and the Spaniard makes few if any runs in behind which frees up the channel for Thomas to operate. With that taken into account Thomas didn’t do much wrong but in turn, didn’t do much right either.
Youri Tielemans 7
Embed from Getty ImagesEverything good that the foxes did all night, Tielemans was at the heart of it pulling the strings, receiving the ball on the half-turn in the pivot and taking Brighton players out of the game by beating players and his defence-splitting passes. This was demonstrated when he acted the quickest from the short corner played to him and delivered an inch-perfect game cup-tie winning cross directly to Kelechi Iheanacho who was completely unmarked to head in the goal.
Wilfred Ndidi 4 (62)
Embed from Getty ImagesAn inconsistent night for usually so consistent Ndidi, his first touch was quite poor throughout, he gave the ball away numerous times without being under pressure and he wasn’t particularly impressive in breaking down Brighton’s play in midfield. But in fairness, he has been out for a few weeks so he is playing himself back into fitness. Also, the flatness of the formation didn’t help Ndidi defensively either as it seemed Leicester players were directed to pick up spaces and allow Brighton players to roam in between the midfield and defence.
Cengiz Under 4
Embed from Getty ImagesDue to Leicester’s quite mediocre performance, it gave Under very few chances to beat players and drive at goal but when he did have those chances late into the game when the foxes were chasing the win, Under made some quite poor decisions in and around goal taking on shots from distance and in turn ending promising attacks. Much the reasons why he has struggled to break into the Leicester starting line-up.
Ayoze Perez 3 (62)
Embed from Getty ImagesA really poor showing from the Spaniard, although not entirely his own fault as he was playing on the unfamiliar left-hand side. He gave the ball away more than a few times and was unable to hold the ball up which allowed Brighton to pin The Foxes into their own half for extended periods of the game. Hopefully, he is not out long with the injury that forced him off, but overall, a fairly uninspiring performance.
Jamie Vardy 5 (62)
Embed from Getty ImagesAgain was much a consequence of Leicester’s poor display. The Foxes man had little to no service but when he did get the ball on the counter he had no one running in behind with him as his wingers (Under and Perez) do not make those kinds of runs. So an unimpactful game for Vardy but very much not his own fault.
Substitutes
Hamza Choudury 5 (62)
Not much to say in regards to Choudhury’s performance. He made a few good challenges but he didn’t really have much impact on the state of the game.
Kelechi Iheanacho 7 (62)
Well despite a lot of criticism over the last few months, some fair some not, Iheanacho was the game-winner, he was in the right place at the right time like all good centre forwards and when the Brighton defence were scrambling trying to organise themselves for the short corner Iheanacho was quick to react to what was happening and headed home the winner.
James Maddison 7 (62)
Head and shoulders above most on the field even in the small game time he had, epitomised a beautifully executed flick to unlock the defence and play Under in behind late on in the game. He was drawing fouls in dangerous areas taking players out of the game with precision passes and was directly involved in the goal his quick thinking short corner at the end of the game was the catalyst for the winner.
Christian Fuchs 5 (75)
Very little time for Fuchs to make an impact and to put a foot wrong therefore a default five is given.
Brighton XI
Christian Walton 6
Embed from Getty ImagesThe first shot on target Walton had to face was in the 83rd minute of the contest, so he was very much unworked through much of the game. While this was the case his distribution was excellent and made much of Leicester’s front line press futile. Also, there was very little he could have done about the goal except maybe to direct his defence to switch on quicker.
Ben White 6 (71)
Embed from Getty ImagesMuch like the rest of the defence, White didn’t put a foot wrong until a lapse of concentration with the rest of his team during the dying embers of the game. He was excellent on the ball driving past players like they weren’t there and his forward passes into the forwards were elite.
Lewis Dunk 6
Embed from Getty ImagesThe Brighton captain showed great character and leadership qualities throughout and again his only error was for the goal which was a collective mistake but as the captain he is the organiser and must take more responsibility for the goal.
Dan Burn 6
Embed from Getty ImagesThe big man did very well defending Under one on one only being beaten on one occasion. He won the majority of his aerial battles (which comes to no surprise) it was just unfortunate he was part of the collective error that lead to the Iheanacho free header, therefore, his good work like his defensive partners was undone in that one momentary lapse.
Michal Karbownik 5
Embed from Getty ImagesA quiet night for the young full-back he did not have much defensive work while not having many chances to get forward as much of the Brighton attack came through the centre of the pitch. Thus the average rating.
Pascal Gross 6
Embed from Getty ImagesGross demonstrated a lot of quality on and off the ball. His composure on it lead to a lot of good passages of play, while also breaking down much of Leicester’s play in the middle of the park.
Adam Lallana 6 (79)
Embed from Getty ImagesAn all-around solid performance in a number eight role for the former Liverpool man looking his best in transition on the break but just didn’t have that cutting edge in the final third unable to create any clear cut chances.
Jakub Moder 4
Embed from Getty ImagesA very quiet performance by the young man going unnoticed for much of the contest and seemed to be somewhat going through the motions and having very little impact on the game.
Steven Alzate 6 (79)
Embed from Getty ImagesThe tricky winger gave Daley-Campbell numerous issues when isolated in the final third, drawing the wing-backs challenge and skipping past him but much of the time unable to find a Brighton player with his cross. But a decent showing with a lot of intent displayed.
Percy Tau 3
Embed from Getty ImagesBeing on loan in the Belgian league last season Tau looked very far off the level needed to be successful in this country. His hold up play was poor and his decision making in the final third was laboured and no way near up to scratch.
Andi Zeqiri 6
Embed from Getty ImagesBy far the most dangerous of the Brighton forward men showing really tricky and creative footwork in and around the box and even had the ball in the net after a really cute chip over Ward but he was just a fraction offside. Throughout the game, he was Brighton’s most likely source of winning the game but with very little service it was not to be.
Substitutes
Yves Bissouma 5 (71)
The defensive midfielder came on to try and stifle the Leicester pressure late on in the game but had little time to make much of an effect on the game.
Gary Mac Allistair 5 (79)
The best of the substitutes be he came on in a period in the game where Leicester were on top and stayed on top until for the remainder of the game so he had limited opportunities going forward.
Joel Veltman 5 (79)
Very few minutes to make a noticeable difference so a default five is given.
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