Leicester City 0-3 Crystal Palace: The major talking points

LEICESTER, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 16: Bakary Sako of Crystal Palace celebrates after scoring his sides third goal with Wilfried Zaha of Crystal Palace during the Premier League match between Leicester City and Crystal Palace at The King Power Stadium on December 16, 2017 in Leicester, England. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images) /

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LEICESTER, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 16: Shinji Okazaki of Leicester City looks on prior to the Premier League match between Leicester City and Crystal Palace at The King Power Stadium on December 16, 2017 in Leicester, England. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images) /

Could Claude Puel have gone with Shinji Okazaki?

Once Shinji Okazaki came on, he immediately looked like the better choice than Demarai Gray, who was kept quiet by James McArthur and Yohan Cabaye in his central role. The England international has generally been good in the recent few weeks, but on this occasion, it looked like a game that wasn’t really designed for him to play through the middle.

Okazaki’s work rate is perhaps what Claude Puel’s side could have done with, as his 15-odd minutes on the pitch did prove. The 31-year old was also fresh from an excellent brace against Southampton, so the decision to bench was always going to backfire in one way or the other. Lessons learned.