Leicester City travel to London on Monday afternoon to square off with Crystal Palace in their second Premier League match in as many days.
The Foxes last played against Manchester United in a Boxing Day tie which finished in a pulsating 2-2 draw at the King Power Stadium with the Foxes showing great character to hit back from both of the Manchester United goals. They will be looking to collect all three points on Monday afternoon to maintain their spot in the top four.
Team News
Gary Cahill is ruled out of this game with a hamstring injury. Crystal Palace could make changes in attack though, with this game coming less than 48 hours after their game against Aston Villa ended.
Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers will be delighted to see that the whole squad is returning to full fitness. Apart from Ricardo Pereira, who is a long-term absentee, Leicester City have all of their players available. Timothy Castagne got a full ninety minutes in the tank on Saturday which will be key for him.
Predicted Line-Ups
Crystal Palace: Guaita; Ward, Kouyate, Dann, Van Aanholt; Townsend, Milivojevic, McArthur, Eze: Benteke, Zaha.
Leicester City: Schmeichel; Justin, Fofana, Soyuncu, Fuchs; Ndidi, Tielemans; Perez, Praet, Barnes; Vardy.
Last Meeting
The last meeting between these two sides came towards the back end of last season. The Foxes cruised past the Eagles as they were victorious in a 3-0 win at the King Power Stadium. The action came in the second half as Kelechi Iheanacho struck first in the 49th minute followed by a Jamie Vardy brace.
History was made that day as Jamie Vardy scored his 100th Premier League goal due to a mistake at the back by Mamadou Sakho. He then went on to lift the ball neatly over Vicente Guaita in stoppage time to get his second and Leicester’s third.
Ones To Watch
Wilfried Zaha
The threat in the Crystal Palace side will come from attacker, Wilfried Zaha. He has the pace and stamina necessary to be a top-class winger. His dribbling ability and vision make him a threat to attack down either wing, making him a versatile menace.
This season in the Premier League, the Ivory Coast international has had nine goal involvements (seven goals, two assists) so it wouldn’t come as a surprise if he got on the score sheet again on Monday afternoon.
The young English winger has arguably had his best season so far at the Foxes getting five goal involvements (four goals, one assist) in the Premier League. The tricky winger has really shone in the Leicester side this season and has found his clinical edge to his game.
Harvey Barnes’ pace and dribbling have been a real struggle for defenders facing him this season, and it could be a similar story on Monday. He scored a superb goal on Saturday and will be looking to add to his goal tally.
Pre-Match Thoughts
On Sunday evening, Aston Villa beat Crystal Palace 3-0 and Roy Hodgson knows that his side made errors in the loss but the Palace boss has said he can’t dwell on them with games coming thick and fast
Speaking to football.london, Hodgson said: “I don't think it'd be a good thing for us to dwell on it any longer than we have to, but we have to analyse it, look ourselves in the mirror and see what we could have done to prevent it, what mistakes we made and fight that, try to prevent it again in two days' time”.
Brendan Rodgers has spoken highly of 22-year-old wing back, James Justin, after he has filled in the crucial role of Ricardo Pereira. The former Luton Town player has done an excellent job in both defending and attacking.
Speaking to Leicestershire Live, Rodgers said: “Justin, at 22 years of age, he’s played in the last week against two world-class players and kept them relatively quiet. He’s developing and growing and getting great experiences at the level.”
How To Watch
Crystal Palace vs Leicester City is available to watch on Prime Video with coverage starting at 2:00pm and kick-off an hour later at 3:00pm.
If you're unable to watch, make sure to remain with VAVEL for all the build-up, live text coverage, and analysis.