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Leicester logo
Premier League | Gameweek 33
Apr 26, 2021 at 8pm UK
King Power Stadium
Crystal Palace logo

Leicester
2 - 1
Crystal Palace

FT(HT: 0-1)
Zaha (12'), Castagne (50'), Iheanacho (80')
Riedewald (18')

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

Sports Mole previews Monday's Premier League clash between Leicester City and Crystal Palace, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Leicester City will be looking to further cement their spot in the Premier League top four when they welcome Crystal Palace to the King Power Stadium on Monday night.

The Foxes are currently third in the table, four points clear of fifth-placed West Ham United, while Palace occupy 13th position, some 11 points clear of the relegation zone.


Match preview

Leicester City's Kelechi Iheanacho celebrates scoring against West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League on April 22, 2021© Reuters

Back-to-back defeats to Manchester City and West Ham earlier this month had left Leicester looking over their shoulder in the Premier League, with the Foxes facing intense pressure from the teams behind them.

It has been a good week for Brendan Rodgers's side, though, as they booked their spot in the FA Cup final with a 1-0 win over Southampton before recording a 3-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion in the league on Thursday.

The success over the Baggies was particularly important as it has left them in third position, one point clear of fourth-placed Chelsea and four clear of fifth-placed West Ham, with a game in hand on both sides.

Liverpool dropped points at home to Newcastle United on Saturday afternoon, meanwhile, and with Tottenham Hotspur not in league action this weekend due to the EFL Cup final, Leicester have a huge chance to put some ground between themselves and the chasing pack in this match.

The Foxes have actually lost seven of their 16 home league matches this term, but they recorded a 3-0 win over Palace when they welcomed the Eagles for the corresponding game in 2019-20.

Crystal Palace's Michy Batshuayi celebrates scoring their first goal against Everton in the Premier League on April 5, 2021© Reuters

Palace, meanwhile, have not actually been in action since the 4-1 home defeat to Chelsea on April 10, meaning that they will have had a 16-day rest by the time that this game begins.

The Eagles have won just one of their last six in the league but are not in any relegation danger at this stage, currently sitting 11 points clear of 18th-placed Fulham, with two games in hand on the Cottagers.

Roy Hodgson's side are only two points clear of 15th-placed Newcastle United but sit just six points behind 11th-placed Aston Villa, meaning that their position could change a lot in the coming weeks.

There are expected to be a number of changes at Selhurst Park this summer, with the manager's future being called into question and a lot of players coming to the end of their contracts.

Palace's recent record over Leicester is actually extremely impressive, losing just two of their last eight Premier League games with the Foxes, recording four victories in the process.

Leicester City Premier League form:
  • D
  • W
  • W
  • L
  • L
  • W

Leicester City form (all competitions):
  • W
  • W
  • L
  • L
  • W
  • W

Crystal Palace Premier League form:
  • D
  • D
  • L
  • W
  • D
  • L



Team News

Leicester City midfielder Harvey Barnes is taken off injured against Arsenal on February 28, 2021© Reuters

Leicester will again be without the services of Harvey Barnes and James Justin on Monday due to knee injuries, while Wes Morgan is still struggling with a back problem.

The Foxes are otherwise in good shape, though, and there are not expected to be many changes from the side that took to the field against West Brom on Thursday evening.

Ricardo Pereira could come in for Luke Thomas, but James Maddison, Jamie Vardy and Kelechi Iheanacho should all retain their positions in the final third of the field.

Wesley Fofana was withdrawn against the Baggies just past the hour, but the centre-back is fit to start on Monday and should again be a part of a back three for Rodgers's side.

As for Palace, Mamadou Sakho, James McCarthy, Connor Wickham, James Tomkins, Nathaniel Clyne, Wayne Hennessey and Nathan Ferguson remain unavailable for selection.

Sakho, Tomkins, Wickham and Ferguson have all been back on the training field since the Chelsea match, but this match will come too soon.

Gary Cahill has an outside chance of recovering from a minor problem to make the starting XI, though, while Michy Batshuayi is available after being unable to face parent club Chelsea last time out.

Hodgson could ultimately decide to select the same side that took to the field against the Blues, but Jeffrey Schlupp and Andros Townsend are among the options for change.

Leicester City possible starting lineup:
Schmeichel; Fofana, Evans, Soyuncu; Pereira, Ndidi, Tielemans, Castagne; Maddison; Iheanacho, Vardy

Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:
Guaita; Ward, Kouyate, Cahill, Van Aanholt; Ayew, Milivojevic, Riedewald, Eze; Benteke, Zaha


SM words green background

We say: Leicester City 2-0 Crystal Palace

Leicester were excellent against West Brom on Thursday, and we can see a similar outcome on Monday evening. Palace do not have an awful lot to play for at this stage of the season, but the same cannot be said for Leicester, who now have a chance to cement their spot in the Champions League places.



Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting under 3.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Under 3.5:data


Video prediction

Watch the Sports Mole Football Shorts prediction for this game below:



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Data Analysis

Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Leicester City win with a probability of 64.04%. A draw had a probability of 21.6% and a win for Crystal Palace had a probability of 14.34%.

The most likely scoreline for a Leicester City win was 1-0 with a probability of 13.54%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (12.7%) and 2-1 (9.56%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.19%), while for a Crystal Palace win it was 0-1 (5.43%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with a 9.6% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Leicester City would win this match.


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Game History

How you voted: Leicester vs Crystal Palace

Leicester City
78.4%
Draw
9.3%
Crystal Palace
12.3%
227
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Crystal Palace's Mamadou Sakho looks dejected as he leaves the pitch after being shown a red card on December 3, 2019
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Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
CLeicester CityLeicester453141089395097
2Leeds UnitedLeeds45279980413990
3Ipswich TownIpswich442612688563290
4Southampton452591185622384
5Norwich CityNorwich4521101479631673
6West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom4520121367472072
7Hull City451913136859970
8Middlesbrough45199176861766
9Coventry CityCoventry4417131468551364
10Preston North EndPreston45189185664-863
11Bristol City451711175347662
12Cardiff CityCardiff45195215165-1462
13Swansea CitySwansea451512185964-557
14Watford451317156058256
15Sunderland45168215252056
16Millwall451511194455-1156
17Queens Park RangersQPR451411204557-1253
18Stoke CityStoke451411204560-1553
19Blackburn RoversBlackburn451311215874-1650
20Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds45148234268-2650
21Plymouth ArgylePlymouth451212215870-1248
22Birmingham CityBirmingham451211224965-1647
23Huddersfield TownHuddersfield45918184875-2745
RRotherham UnitedRotherham45412293287-5524


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