Leicester City will be looking to climb off the bottom of the Premier League when they welcome Crystal Palace to the King Power Stadium on Saturday lunchtime.
The Foxes are three points adrift of safety after nine matches so far this season, while the Eagles are sitting five points further ahead in 15th place.
Match preview
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Leicester supporters hoped that their comfortable 4-0 home victory over Nottingham Forest would act as a springboard for a much-needed positive run of form in a bid to climb the table, but they were unable to claim successive wins as they lost 2-1 away against Bournemouth last weekend.
Patson Daka put the Foxes in front in the 10th minute at the Vitality Stadium, but the Cherries quickly turned the game on its head courtesy of two goals in the space of three second-half minutes from Philip Billing and Ryan Christie, piling more pressure on the shoulders of manager Brendan Rodgers.
Many fans are now calling for the Northern Irishman to be relieved of his duties and the club have recently had to refund all birthday announcements for Saturday's game after receiving requests such as 'Zak Rodgers' and 'Brenda Nout'.
Leicester have struggled to hold onto leads so far this season and have now lost four games when scoring first – only Aston Villa and Southampton (both five) have lost more matches after scoring first in a single Premier League campaign. Indeed, no team has dropped more points from winning positions in the Premier League than the Foxes (35) since the start of last season.
Sitting rock bottom of the table and three points adrift of safety, Leicester are now preparing for three home matches in their next four fixtures, something which bodes well for the Foxes who have picked up all four of their Premier League points at the King Power Stadium this term.
Leicester have also won each of their last three home league games against Crystal Palace, including the 2-1 victory last season, so there is reason for optimism on Saturday.
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Crystal Palace ended a four-game run without a Premier League win when they came from behind to beat Leeds United 2-1 at Selhurst Park last weekend.
After Pascal Struijk headed the visitors in front, the Eagles equalised through Odsonne Edouard before Eberechi Eze scored the winner in the final 15 minutes to help Patrick Vieira's side claim just their second league victory of the season.
Having already faced four of the so-called top-six clubs this term, failing to win on each occasion, Vieira will not be too concerned with his side's position in the table at present, but an upturn in form is now to be expected by both the French boss and the Palace supporters with a favourable-looking set of fixtures ahead until mid-November when the league comes to a halt for the World Cup.
Palace are unbeaten in their last 12 Premier League matches against teams starting the day in the relegation zone, but their form against Leicester leaves a little to be desired as they have failed to win any of their last six meetings with the Foxes since a 4-1 away victory in February 2019.
If Palace are to come out on top on Saturday, they will likely rely upon the services of star attacker Wilfried Zaha, who has both scored (seven) and been directly involved in more Premier League goals (nine) against Leicester than against any other opponent.
Team News
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Rodgers may be forced to make at least one change to his Leicester side after Timothy Castagne sustained an eye socket injury in the defeat at Bournemouth – James Justin could switch over to right-back as a result with Luke Thomas recalled to the starting lineup at left-back.
Nampalys Mendy is also doubtful with a knee problem, while Wilfred Ndidi (thigh), Ricardo Pereira (Achilles) and Ryan Bertrand (knee) all remain sidelined.
Jamie Vardy will be pushing to start ahead of Daka in attack after being benched last week, while in-form playmaker James Maddison is set to continue in a wide-right position with Harvey Barnes operating on the opposite flank.
As for Crystal Palace, Nathaniel Clyne (ankle), James McArthur (groin), Jack Butland (wrist), Nathan Ferguson (foot) and Chris Richards (leg) all remain out with injuries.
Vieira is unlikely to make too many changes, if any, to the side that beat Leeds last weekend, so Jeffrey Schlupp could retain his place at left-back ahead of Tyrick Mitchell.
Eze, Cheick Doucoure and Michael Olise are set to continue in centre-midfield, while Jordan Ayew, Edouard and Zaha could all keep their places in attack, although Jean-Philippe Mateta will be pushing to start.
Leicester City possible starting lineup:
Ward; Justin, Evans, Faes, Thomas; Soumare; Maddison, Tielemans, Dewsbury-Hall, Barnes; Vardy
Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:
Guaita; Ward, Andersen, Guehi, Schlupp; Olise, Doucoure, Eze; Ayew, Edouard, Zaha
We say: Leicester City 1-2 Crystal Palace
The pressure is mounting on Rodgers's struggling Leicester side and another defeat on Saturday could see them slip further away from safety.
Crystal Palace have scored in 11 of their last 13 Premier League games and we can see them taking advantage of Leicester's vulnerable backline, with Vieira's men edging out the Foxes to claim all three points.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Oliver Thomas
