Palace vs Leicester: Predicted XI and injury news

There’s an argument that this weekend’s round of fixtures are crucial to 18 of the 20 teams involved, and this is particularly pertinent for Leicester City. The Foxes crawl out of the international break to be thrust into a titanic relegation battle at Selhurst Park, with the home side marking Roy Hodgson’s first fixture back in charge of the Eagles.

City had endured a wretched run of form pre Euro-qualifiers, with Harvey Barnes’ equaliser at Brentford helping to put an end to a succession of defeats that plunged them back into the drop zone picture. Manager Brendan Rodgers, who once again survived fan pressure and resentment to remain in the hot seat was addressing the media today, where he discussed the injury status of many key players, particularly in defence.

And it’s at the back where he has a decision to make, namely in the configuration, wrestling between a three and four-back system. Harry Souttar survived a knock while away with Australia, while Victor Kristiansen and Jonny Evans have made good progress in their returns from minor injuries.

It’s most likely, that even with all fit, Rodgers will elect for a four-back, not least because he can rely on width provided by Tete and Harvey Barnes and need not rely on the wing-backs to provide this. It may be too soon for Kristiansen, in which case Timothy Castagne can slot in on the left-hand side alongside one of Wout Faes and Jonny Evans.

Daniel Iversen is expected to be given a run of games after his maiden start a fortnight ago, and it’s possible that Jonny Evans may not be risked until Tuesday’s bout with Aston Villa. Youri Tielemans has suffered a significant setback to his return despite training well, and the height that Palace possess could rule out Nampalys Mendy from a starting spot.

Patson Daka was at the double for Zambia over the break, albeit against lowly Lesotho, but could be in line for a run in the side once more after Kelechi Iheanacho’s purple patch appears to have died down. The forward was selected against Brentford and this could likely continue until he plays himself out of the first team.

Predicted XI: Iversen, Ricardo, Souttar, Faes, Castagne, Ndidi, Dewsbury-Hall, Maddison, Tete, Barnes, Daka.