Crystal Palace and Leicester City will be eager to clinch their first victories of the 2024/25 Premier League season when they clash at Selhurst Park on Saturday.
The 2024/25 Premier League season resumes after the international break, with Gameweek 4 kicking off on Saturday. Southampton and Manchester United will begin the latest round of fixtures before we witness five simultaneous matches, one of which will be Crystal Palace vs Leicester City.
Crystal Palace would have hoped for a better start to the 2024/25 campaign after ending last season on a high. The Eagles are yet to win a game this term and clinched their first point before the international break by holding Chelsea to a 1-1 draw. Oliver Glasner’s men have played three London derbies in as many matchdays, losing to Brentford and West Ham United in their first two outings. However, they beat Norwich City 4-0 in the EFL Cup second round.
As for Leicester City, they, too, clinched a 4-0 win in the EFL Cup second round, beating Tranmere Rovers at home. However, the Foxes are without a point since holding Tottenham Hotspur to a 1-1 draw in Gameweek 1. Since then, they have endured successive 2-1 defeats to Fulham and Aston Villa and will hope to embark on a much-needed unbeaten run this weekend.
Crystal Palace came from a goal down to beat Leicester City 2-1 in the most recent Premier League clash featuring the teams at Selhurst Park. The Hard Tackle takes a closer look at the encounter ahead of the latest meeting between the two sides.
Team News & Tactics
Crystal Palace
Oliver Glasner does not have any new roster issues hampering his preparations ahead of his side’s latest fixture. The Crystal Palace manager will be bereft of the services of three first-team players vs Leicester City on Saturday.
Glasner has been sweating over the fitness of Adam Wharton (niggle), who should be available to take on Leicester City. However, Chadi Riad (knee) and Matheus Franca (rib) remain on the sidelines, while Rob Holding is not training with the first team after falling out with Glasner. Meanwhile, deadline-day arrivals Maxence Lacroix, Trevoh Chalobah, and Eddie Nketiah are in contention to feature.
Dean Henderson is an automatic pick between the sticks, with Crystal Palace lining up in a 3-4-2-1 formation in front of him vs Leicester City. The central defensive unit should feature Trevoh Chalobah, Marc Guehi, and Maxence Lacroix. Daniel Munoz and Tyrick Mitchell will likely start as the wing-backs.
The duo will provide width in the final third and protect the centre-backs in the defensive phases. Adam Wharton and Cheick Doucoure should be the two central midfielders, while Eberechi Eze and Daichi Kamada will supply the creativity from the central areas. Finally, Jean-Philippe Mateta will lead the line for Crystal Palace, with Eddie Nketiah an option on the bench.
Probable Lineup (3-4-2-1): Henderson; Chalobah, Guehi, Lacroix; Munoz, Wharton, Doucoure, Mitchell; Eze, Kamada; Mateta
Leicester City
Like his counterpart in the Crystal Palace dugout, Steve Cooper does not have any new injury concerns to deal with ahead of the trip to Selhurst Park. The Leicester City manager will be without three first-team players.
Cooper has already confirmed that he has an unchanged squad for this weekend’s fixture. So, Bobby De Cordova-Reid, who returned late from international duty with Jamaica, is available. However, Jakub Stolarczyk and Patson Daka remain on the sidelines due to their ankle injuries, while former Crystal Palace attacker Odsonne Edouard is also unavailable.
Mads Hermansen will take his usual spot between the sticks, with Leicester City lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him vs Crystal Palace. The backline should feature James Justin, Jannik Vestergaard, Wout Faes, and Victor Kristiansen.
As for the midfield unit, there is no looking past Wilfred Ndidi and Harry Winks in the double pivot. Facundo Buonanotte will reprise the no. 10 role, while Abdul Fatawu Issahaku and former Crystal Palace attacker Jordan Ayew will be the two wide attackers. Finally, Jamie Vardy will spearhead the Leicester City attack on Saturday.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Hermansen; Justin, Vestergaard, Faes, Kristiansen; Ndidi, Winks; Fatawu, Buonanotte, Ayew; Vardy
Key Stats
- Crystal Palace have won nine Premier League games vs Leicester City; they have not beaten any other side more times in the competition. The Foxes lost 2-1 the last time they faced Crystal Palace in the Premier League (April 2023), having been unbeaten in their previous seven against the Eagles beforehand (W4 D3).
- Since playing consecutive goalless stalemates at home in September/October last season, Crystal Palace’s last 16 outings at Selhurst Park in the Premier League have seen 59 goals (F34 A25, 3.7 per game). Only Chelsea’s (63) and Manchester City’s (60) home games have seen more in the competition since the first game in that run (27th October).
- Leicester City have only opened the scoring in two of their last 24 Premier League games, conceding first in all three so far this term. Only in 1994/95 and 2001/02 did the Foxes concede the first goal in their first four games in a Premier League campaign, suffering relegation in both seasons.
- Crystal Palace have conceded first in their three Premier League games this season (D1 L2), already one more than in their 13 such games under Oliver Glasner last term. The Eagles are yet to win a Premier League game under the Austrian in which they have trailed (D2 L5).
- Leicester City have won just two of their last 16 Premier League games in London (D3 L11), conceding 40 goals in that run (2.5 per game).
Player to Watch
Jamie Vardy
The phrase “ageing like fine wine” often gets used very loosely. However, Jamie Vardy exemplifies the saying, much like Zlatan Ibrahimovic before him. The 37-year-old is in the twilight of his career and has struggled with fitness issues in recent seasons.
However, that has not deterred him from his task in the final third, as he started the season by rescuing the game against Tottenham. That remains the only point on the tally for Leicester City, and Vardy will be pivotal in the away side getting anything from the match vs Crystal Palace this weekend. So, how he fares inside the box might determine the fate of the contest.
Prediction
Crystal Palace 2-2 Leicester City
Both teams have been vulnerable at the back thus far this season and tend to concede first. So, Crystal Palace vs Leicester City on Saturday might be a riveting affair due to the shortcomings of the two defensive units.
So, the result in Saturday’s game will largely depend on the finishing ability of the attackers from each team and how their goalkeepers fare between the sticks. In the end, there might not be much to separate the two teams, and The Hard Tackle predicts Jamie Vardy to rescue another point for Leicester City vs Crystal Palace, with the game ending in a 2-2 draw.
