Leicester City had a troublesome start to their Premier League campaign this time around. After shocking the whole world by going all the way to win the title last season, defying all odds, this season has been a big letdown for them so far. Title defence was always an uphill task for the Foxes but they are not even in top 10 after eight gameweeks and have registered just two wins in the Premier League so far. The Foxes have already lost more times than they faced defeats throughout the course of the last season.
Leicester will host Alan Pardew’s Crystal Palace at the King Power Stadium on Saturday in their ninth game of the season. Palace have done decently this season and are ninth in the table with 11 points from 8 games. The Eagles saw their unbeaten streak in the League coming to an end with a 1-0 loss against West Ham last week and will be eager to come back to winning ways.
Leicester City managed to beat Danish giants FC Copenhagen 1-0 in the Champions League in the midweek with Riyad Mahrez scoring the winner and will be looking to build some momentum with a win against Crystal Palace. Here is the predicted lineup of Leicester City against Crystal Palace.
Defence
Kasper Schmeichel will keep his place under the bar. The Danish international will be protected the by the unchanged back four of Simpson, Morgan, Huth and Fuchs. We have seen the Foxes struggling defensively this season.
The same back four worked like magic for them last time around but the stability is missing for them at the back. Simpson and especially Fuchs had troubled their opponents on a regular basis from the full-back positions last season but they have been unable to do the same this campaign and have been targeted by agile wingers. The absence of Kanté hasn’t helped either.
Midfield
In Leicester City’s Champions League game against FC Copenhagen, Ranieri opted to bench Daniel Amartey and went for Andy King alongside Danny Drinkwater. However, the Italian gaffer is likely to put Amartey back into the starting XI against Crystal Palace as he will need bodies in the middle of the park to counter Joe Ledley and James McArthur. Danny Drinkwater should keep his place. Riyad Mahrez and Marc Albrighton are likely to keep their places on the flanks.
Attack
Leicester City are expected to stick to the front-two of Jamie Vardy and Islam Slimani. The duo have so far been unable to deliver as a unit and have to improve really soon to bring about a change in Leicester’s League form.
