Preview: Leicester City vs. Crystal Palace – prediction, team news, lineups

Two sides compete near the bottom of The Premier League table meet at the King Power Stadium on Wednesday when Leicester City host Crystal Palace.

Both clubs saw off opposition from lower leagues in the FA Cup third round at the weekend and could manage to win again to move away from relegation trouble.

Match preview

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After losing five Premier League games in a row, Leicester produced an impressive performance in their emphatic 6-2 thrashing of Queens Park Rangers on Saturday.

Ruud van Nistelrooy had not enjoyed a win since his first game at the start of December, when he saw his side go on the longest losing streak of any club this season.

Those five defeats meant the Foxes also conceded at least two goals on each occasion, and even in victory they still conceded more goals at the weekend, underscoring where their problems lie.

Unwanted history also awaits if they are unable to arrest that run because Leicester have not lost six in a row, while conceding at least twice in all of them since 2001, and are currently joint-worst run of clean sheets in Premier League history, with just two in their previous 43 outings.

It is also imperative that they end the losing run due to Ipswich Town’s recent form which has seen them leapfrog Leicester and send Van Nistelrooy’s men down to 19th.

However, there are still just two points between themselves and safety, with Wolves, Everton and upcoming opponents Palace still in the relegation picture.

Playing 24 hours before Ipswich could be beneficial if they are able to get a result here, putting pressure on the Tractor Boys, who have taken four points from their last two games.

A win could see them move completely out of the bottom three, but their minus-19 goal difference means 16th-placed Everton remain out of reach this midweek.

Palace are just a few points further ahead and a continuation of their fine home form against the Eagles could see that gap shortened, with Leicester unbeaten in four at home to their next opponents – winning three.

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Leicester will also feel they should have won in the reverse fixture in September, throwing away a 2-0 lead to draw, with Jean-Philippe Mateta‘s stoppage time penalty rescued a point for Palace.

It extended a run of just one win to nine games going into this game for Palace, but a five-game unbeaten run away from home will give them confidence to improve on that here.

Just twice previously in their top-flight history have the Eagles managed to go six games without defeat away from home, and they were both before the creation of the Premier League, showing just how impressive a feat it would be if Oliver Glasner‘s men can claim a result.

It will also be important to ensure they are not dragged back into the race at the bottom after now moving five points clear of the drop, and their three remaining games this month will all be crucial.

Facing Leicester represents a huge opportunity for three points, while out-of-form West Ham and Brentford come next for Glasner’s side, but the Austrian will be hoping for a more convincing performance than the one that saw them get over the line against League One Stockport County in the FA The cup on Sunday.

Leicester City Premier League form:

Leicester City form (all competitions):

Crystal Palace Premier League form:

Crystal Palace form (all competitions):

Team news

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Leicester remain without a first-choice goalkeeper Mads Hermansen for this midweek outing, so polish stops Jakub Stolarczyk is appointed deputy again, with Danny Ward now in favor after his performance against Wolves before Christmas.

But in front of Stolarczyk, Jannik Vestergaard is a doubt after limping off against Aston Villa and subsequently missing the FA Cup tie with QPR on Saturday.

Casey McAteer however, is back in full training and will be in contention to feature here after narrowly failing a late fitness test at the weekend, but Wilfred Ndidi, Ricardo Pereira and Abdul Fatawu stay out.

The palace is still missing Adam Wharton from their midfield, and he was joined in the treatment room by Will Hughes ahead of their last league outing, that is Cheick Doucoure started next door Jefferson Lerma.

Illness has swept through the camp during the past week and has forced Dean Henderson to miss the FA Cup match on Sunday, while Maxence Lacroix, Tyrick Mitchell and Mateta were all unused subs.

Should they recover, however, all four are expected to return, especially Mateta, after another disappointing performance from Eddie Nketiah in attack at the weekend.

Leicester City possible starting line-up:
Stolarczyk; Justin, Coady, Faes, Kristiansen; Blink, Soumare; Ayew, El Khannouss, Mavididi; Vardy

Crystal Palace possible starting line-up:
Henderson; Richards, Lacroix, Guehi; Munoz, Lerma, Doucoure, Mitchell; Sarr, Mateta, Eze

We say: Leicester City 2-2 Crystal Palace

Leicester’s inability to keep out goals at one end has often been offset by the fact that they have a number of players capable of scoring in attack, and they may have to rely on that again here.

Palace are unbeaten in five away games in the league, but only two of those have ended in victory and another close encounter could be on the cards here.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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