Leicester City vs Crystal Palace preview: Both sides needing points to reignite thier seasons

Crystal Palace manager, Roy Hodgson, will still have ambitions to guide his side to their best ever points tally in Premier League history, after the Eagles' Europa League dream looks dead and buried following the home defeat to Burnley in their last outing.

As for Brendan Rodgers and his Leicester City side, the Foxes will be hunting for all three points from this fixture in order to keep their top four place secure after a difficult start to life following the return of football.

Form

Both sides have put in lacklustre performances since Project Restart commenced following the enforced break.

Palace have failed to pick up points in their last two Premier League fixtures, whereas for Leicester, their Champions League place has come under significant scrutiny following their failure to pick up three points since Premier League football returned.

Palace come into this fixture off a soul-destroying 1-0 loss to an injury-stricken Burnley side, after Ben Mee sealed all three points on the evening for the Clarets thanks to a powerful header that proved too hot to handle for Palace goalkeeper, Vincente Guiata.

Leicester suffered a 2-1 loss to Carlo Ancelotti's Everton in midweek, allowing the gap between themselves and the chasing pack of Wolves and Manchester United to narrow on Brendan Rogers' side to intensify the battle for a Champions League spot.

Head to Head

The Eagles have enjoyed their recent visits to Leicester, with the South Londoners having not lost on their travels to the King Power since 2016, and Palace had enjoyed a doing the League double of the Foxes for two seasons in succession.

However, the last meeting between these two sides took place in November, when Leicester were on red hot form in the Premier League following their 9-0 drubbing of Southampton.

An impressive second half display from Rodgers' side saw a Çağlar Söyüncü header and a fine Jamie Vardy finish sealed all three points for the Foxes.

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Team News

Roy Hodgson can welcome back striker, Christian Benteke, to the line-up, following his absence from the Liverpool and Burnley defeats due to a muscle injury he picked up in the 2-0 victory over Bournemouth.

Defender, Martin Kelly, has also returned to training this week and will be available to play in some capacity, most probably the bench, due to the fact he has failed to make an appearance since late January.

Jeffery Schlupp and James Tomkins are still missing from the squad through separate injuries with no return date set for either player.

Brendan Rodgers will still be without a key man, right back, Ricardo Pereira, and midfielder, Daniel Amarety for this clash. Kelechi Iheanacho will be expected to start following his impressive impact on the second half at the game at Goodison Park in the week but James Maddison is a doubt due to a hip injury.