The League leading Leicester City will look to improve their position at the top this weekend, against a Crystal Palace side who have struggled since the start of 2016.
Last time out Leicester were able to secure a 1-0 win over Newcastle United at home thanks to a Shinji Okazaki bicycle-kick, maintaining a gap over Tottenham in second place which now stands at five points. Having only been fighting off relegation this time twelve months ago, one of the most unlikely league title wins of all time gets closer to reality with each week.
Crystal Palace also find themselves in a position that seemed unlikely before Christmas. Since the festive period they have yet to find a way to get three points, extending the barren run to 12 league games when they lost to Liverpool in their last outing. They do have some success behind them now though, having secured a semi-final place in the FA Cup after defeating Reading 2-0 last weekend.
A win would be a huge benefit for both sides, however, it will be a very desperate Palace squad looking to arrest a slump that has seen them fall 10 places in almost as many games.
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Key Battle – Riyad Mahrez vs Pape Souare
A big part of the Foxes success so far this year has been the service that Riyad Mahrez has been able to provide for the likes of Jamie Vardy. Between the two forward players they have scored 34 goals, sitting first and second in goal scoring for Leicester, while the Algerian has provided 11 assists, second only to Mesut Ozil in the Premier League.
This is why the match-up between Mahrez and Palace’s left-fullback Pape Souare is so crucial to the outcome of the game. Much of the scoring chances have been coming from that side of the field and the best way to stop that is to try and nullify the playmaker’s effect on the Foxes attack.
CrownBet match odds at time of publishing
There is also the possibility that the Eagles winger Yannick Bolasie will be instructed to assist Souare in dealing with Mahrez, as it looks a difficult prospect for a defender who has look a little vulnerable in the last few weeks – before he was suspended for three matches for a two-footed tackle in their game against Watford.
Team News
Crystal Palace will be able to welcome back Wayne Hennessey to Premier League action after he overcome his back injury that kept him out of the Liverpool clash and after the mistake that Alex McCarthy made against Liverpool, there should be no trouble in reclaiming his spot. There are clouds over the fitness of Yohan Cabaye while in form striker Connor Wickham will be out until the start of April.
Leicester have the rare cushion of seeing no first team players on the injury list, another factor as to why they are able to have so much success this year and Ranieri will again be able to name an unchanged lineup.
Head-to-head
Over the seven previous meetings between the two sides in the Premier League the wins fall slightly in Crystal Palace’s favour, with four compared to Leicester’s two and one game ending in a draw.
Previous Meeting
In the meeting between the two sides earlier in the year the Foxes took the win at home thanks to a second-half strike from Vardy to record a 1-0 win.
Prediction
It seems on the form that Palace have been showing in the league as of late that it should be an easy win for the Foxes to help keep the gap between themselves and the rest of the top four. Given that the average goals per game in this fixture is only just below two though, it should be close right until the final whistle.
Crystal Palace 0 Leicester City 1
*CrownBet odds at time of publishing are subject to change
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