Saturday’s Premier League action gets underway at the King Power Stadium as Leicester City and Crystal Palace go head-to-head in a bottom-half six-pointer.
Leicester’s 4-0 demolition of Nottingham Forest in their most recent home league outing proved just a one-off as they found themselves on the wrong side of a 2-1 scoreline at Bournemouth last weekend.
Another underwhelming result against sub-par opposition mounted more pressure on under-fire manager Brendan Rodgers, who seems unfazed by his team’s sluggish top-flight start.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, the Northern Irishman confessed the King Power hierarchy knew ‘it was going to be a tough season’ following the club’s lacklustre recruitment campaign in the summer.
Wesley Fofana’s departure for Chelsea on the deadline day left Leicester’s backline exposed as the Foxes head into proceedings having conceded a league-high 24 goals this season.
Palace’s forthcoming visit to the East Midlands could come in handy, considering only five perennial Premier League campaigners have netted fewer goals than Patrick Vieira’s men this term (ten).
Despite the Eagles’ well-documented scoring woes, goals from Odsonne Edouard and Eberchi Eze on either side of half-time propelled them to a come-from-behind 2-1 home victory over Leeds United last weekend.
After halting a frustrating four-game winless Premier League streak (D2, L2), the Londoners will be out to win back-to-back top-flight matches for just the third time under Vieira’s stewardship.
Match Preview
Leicester City
Amid the club’s joint-worst defensive start in their top-flight history, Rodgers has to keep an eye on his team’s propensity for squandering points from winning positions.
Since the start of the 2021/22 season, the Foxes have dropped more points from leading positions (35) than any other Premier League side, including 14 this term.
There’s light at the end of a long tunnel as Leicester can draw inspiration from their eye-catching six-match unbeaten run against Palace in the Premier League (W4, D2).
Crystal Palace
Palace’s search for their first top-flight win on hostile turf this season following three consecutive failed attempts (D2, L1) faces another formidable challenge.
Vieira’s men have lost each of their last three Premier League clashes against Leicester at the King Power, conceding at least twice on every occasion.
Interestingly, both of Palace’s league triumphs this season have come from losing positions, so Leicester’s habit of wasting points after breaking the deadlock bodes well for their bid to upset the East Midlands faithful.
Leicester City vs Crystal Palace Potential Line-ups
Leicester City (4-1-4-1): Danny Ward; James Justin, Jonny Evans, Wout Faes, Luke Thomas; Boubakary Soumare; James Maddison, Youri Tielemans, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Harvey Barnes; Jamie Vardy.
Crystal Palace (4-3-3): Vicente Guaita; Joel Ward, Joachim Andersen, Marc Guehi, Jeffrey Schlupp; Michael Olise, Abdoulaye Doucoure, Eberechi Eze; Jordan Ayew, Odsonne Edouard, Wilfried Zaha.
How to Watch?
Leicester vs Palace, alongside all other fixtures in England’s top flight, is available to watch online via live Premier League streams.
Leicester City vs Crystal Palace Preview
With both teams taking the field in desperate need of points, we expect each manager to take a cautious approach, which could lead to a cagey, low-scoring affair.
Nailed to the bottom of the Premier League table, Leicester cannot afford another disappointing result if Rodgers is to stay on the bench.
So we back the home side to dig themselves out of trouble and get back to the win column.
Leicester City 1-0 Crystal Palace
