Leicester City v Brighton - e-Football Flashback

Article by e-Leicester City Correspondent Jonathan Smith

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Tuesday night was supposed to be an evening of celebration at the King Power Stadium. Leicester City’s promotion to the Premier League was confirmed at the weekend and people turned up in their thousands to see the boys in blue move a step closer to winning the title. No-one was expecting Brighton to roll over and gift City the three points. The Seagulls were the last team to beat Leicester in the league, back in December, and are still in contention for a Play-Off position so it was always going to be a tricky fixture but not many would have predicted what was to come.

The Foxes had only lost one league game at home all season so to lose 4-1 was unexpected, to say the least. It certainly highlighted the fact that you have to be at your best to win any game of football in the Championship. Nigel Pearson spoke to the media after the match and stated that the quality, commitment and concentration levels were well below the standards that have been set throughout the season so far. As a result, a decent Brighton side took control and punished the home side. It was only the second time that a Leicester City side managed by Pearson had conceded more than three goals in a league game. His teams are well known for their solidity at the back and usually only lose by a single goal when a defeat does come their way. City lost 16 games in the league last season and only one defeat was by a margin greater than one goal.

Hopefully this heavy defeat will act as a wakeup call to the City squad and a reminder that they haven’t sealed the title just yet. Obviously, promotion to the Premier League is a fantastic achievement but having been top for so much of the season it would be slightly disappointing not to be crowned as champions. Burnley’s victory at Barnsley on Tuesday night moved them within six points of Leicester with five games remaining. The Foxes goal difference took a bit of a battering and now stands at +35 while Burnley are on +32. The remaining fixtures won’t be easy either. Monday night sees the league leaders travel to play Reading, who are currently clinging on to the final Play-Off position, and then QPR visit the King Power Stadium, many pundits’ favourites for the title at the beginning of the season. Performances like the one seen on Tuesday night will not see City win too many more points between now and the end of the season.

Leicester very rarely do things the easy way and I wouldn’t bet against them needing to win the final game of the season against Doncaster Rovers to clinch the title. They like to keep the supporters on the edge of their seats and that would be a dramatic way to wrap the campaign up. My fear is, if we fail to win the title and end the season with a string of poor performances, will the players’ confidence levels drop going in to next season? Only time will tell.

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