High-flying Foxes to cement top-four spot against Palace

Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester City hope to confirm their status as top-four challengers when facing Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Sunday.

It’s a third-consecutive fixture against a side in the top-six after their recent fixtures against Manchester City and Arsenal but the Eagles remain in sixth places themselves after an impressive start to the season.

They entertain a Foxes side who are full of confidence after a 9-0 thrashing of Southampton in their last Premier League fixture which was followed by progress to the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup in midweek.

Both teams will look to their creative sources for inspiration and have reason to be hopeful. Palace star Wilfried Zaha has failed to net this season but has scored in his last three matches against Leicester whilst the Foxes’ talisman James Maddison has enjoyed playing away from home with season, picking up two goals and two assists away from the King Power.

Team news

Roy Hodgson has been dealt a blow after Andros Townsend picked up a muscle strain in the draw against Arsenal. In better news for the Eagles, Vicente Guaita, Connor Wickham and Mamadou Sakho all took some part in training this week and could be available for selection.

The visitors travel to south London with almost a fully fit squad to choose from with Matty James the only absentee as he continues his recovery from a long-term issue.

Roy Hodgson referenced Leicester’s record-equalling win over Southampton ahead of the match:

“I think we’d have been preparing for a very good team and a very good team performance irrespective of the Southampton game. Obviously that adds even more spice to the affair, especially as far as Leicester are concerned because they’re coming here off the back of two good results.”

Visiting manager Brendan Rodgers shared his admiration for Roy Hodgson in his pre-match press conference:

“They have an outstanding manager who I have a huge amount of respect for. They are coached incredibly well. They have some outstanding players and it will be a really tough game for us. They defend very well.”

Head-to-head

The two sides have faced off 14 times in the Premier League, Palace winning eight times, Leicester four with two draws.