Leicester City look to end a five-game losing streak in the Premier League on Wednesday night when they host Crystal Palace.
After a bit of a new manager following the arrival of Ruud van Nistelrooy, Leicester have returned to form over the past month. The Foxes faced some demanding games against Liverpool, Manchester City and Newcastle United but were rarely challenged during disappointing defeats.
Saturday’s 6-2 FA Cup third-round victory over Queens Park Rangers on a foggy afternoon at the King Power Stadium was necessary, but Palace will present a much tougher challenge than their fellow Londoners.
Oliver Glasner’s side have regained their pride after a poor start to the season and are now seven points clear of Leicester ahead of Wednesday’s clash. They have lost just one of their last nine games and came from two goals down to take a valuable point when these two sides clashed in mid-September.
Here 90 minutes leads to an intriguing confrontation towards the foot of the table.
Leicester vs Crystal Palace H2H record (last five matches)
Current form (all competitions)
|
Leicester |
The Crystal Palace |
|---|---|
|
Leicester 6-2 QPR – 01.11.25 |
Crystal Palace 1-0 Stockport – 01.12.25 |
|
Aston Villa 2-1 Leicester – 01.04.25 |
Crystal Palace 1-1 Chelsea – 01.04.25 |
|
Leicester 0-2 Man City – 29.12.24 |
Crystal Palace 2-1 Southampton – 29.12.24 |
|
Liverpool 3-1 Leicester – 26.12.24 |
Bournemouth 0-0 Crystal Palace – 26.12.24 |
|
Leicester 0-3 Wolves – 21.12.24 |
Crystal Palace 1-5 Arsenal – 21.12.24 |
|
Earth |
TV channel/live stream |
|---|---|
|
Great Britain |
TNT Sports 4, Discovery+, Discovery+ App |
|
United States |
Peacock |
|
Canada |
fuboTV Canada, Fubo Sports Network 4 Canada |
Leicester are still without some key first-team players for Wednesday’s clash, with first-choice goalkeeper Mads Hermansen notably absent. Ricardo Pereira is also unavailable in the backline, but Jannik Vestergaard is expected to be involved in some capacity against Palace according to Van Nistelrooy.
Further forward, Wilfred Ndidi is out in midfield and Abdul Fatawu is unlikely to play again this season after suffering an ACL injury in November. Regardless, Odsonne Edouard is unlikely to feature, but is ineligible to face his parent club.
Predicted line-up of Leicester against Crystal Palace (4-2-3-1): Stolarczyk; Justin, Coady, Vestergaard, Kristiansen; Soumare, Winks; Buonanotte, El Khannous, Mavididi; Vardy.
Palace have recently battled illness but Glasner confirmed that those who missed the weekend’s FA Cup win over Stockport County due to flu should return. That includes Jean-Philippe Mateta, who scored twice in the reverse fixture.
The Austrian also revealed that Will Hughes will be back in the squad after being absent since the last game of last year. However, Adam Wharton will continue to watch on from the sidelines as he recovers from a knee problem, with early February set for his return.
Predicted line-up of Crystal Palace against Leicester (3-4-2-1): Henderson; Chalobah, Lacroix, Guehi; Munoz, Hughes, Lerma, Mitchell; Sarr, Eze; Mateta.
Leicester must make the King Power their fortress during the second half of the campaign as they have already collected most of their points at home this term. The visit of Palace is exactly the kind of game they must win – or at least not lose – if they are to avoid a return to the Championship.
Palace have bounced back in the last two months but are still struggling for wins. They settled for numerous draws, with scoring and creating chances being long-term problems. However, with Leicester’s leaky defense – second worst in the division – conceding two or more in their last seven games, the Eagles could secure a hard-fought victory in the Midlands.
Prediction: Leicester 1-2 Crystal Palace
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