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Crystal Palace 1 Leicester City 0 | Talking Points

A first-half corker from Luka Milivojevic was enough to earn Palace three points and successive home wins for the first time this season as Leicester slipped into the bottom half following successive defeats.

A first half which was without any serious Premier League quality was lit up on the 39th minute as the Palace skipper riffled the ball past Kasper Schmeichel, who had no chance in the Leicester goal. The Foxes improved considerably in the second-half yet Palace stood strong and finally put an end to the Zaha absence hoodoo.

No Zaha, no problem. For once.

Wilfried Zaha was suspended for the visit of Leicester after picking up his fifth booking of the season vs West Ham, and there is a well-known curse around Selhurst Park that when Wilfried Zaha does not line up for the Eagles, they usually lose. However, the Eagles were able to pick up three points in his absence for the first time since May 2016 – a run which lasted 14 games.

His absence was clear as Palace lacked very little in the offensive department – Townsend performed well and was involved in everything going forward for the Eagles, yet Schmeichel was rarely tested and if it wasn’t for the magnificence of the Palace captain, it was difficult to see where a winner would have come from. Having said this, Hodgson and fans alike will just be happy the curse has been lifted and will be looking forward to Zaha’s return for the difficult Christmas period.

Crossing into oblivion

Once more, Leicester piled crosses into the box of their opponents yet to no avail. The 4-2-3-1 system preferred by Claude Puel allows the Foxes to keep possession and put together strings of passes in the middle of the park. However, the system is causing issues for the Foxes and a shake-up of formation may be necessary for Puel in order to change his side’s recent misfortunes in attack.

The Foxes have three players in the top 20 in the league for crossing (James Maddison – 79, Ben Chilwell – 77 and Marc Albrighton – 76), however success in crossing for the Foxes is hard to find. Although Jamie Vardy is a defensive nightmare, he is not the tallest or strongest of strikers in the Premier League and endless crosses are easily dealt with by opponents – just as they were for Palace on Saturday.

Despite having limited success, most balls played into the opponent’s box are asking to be attacked, yet the Foxes do not have the target man needed to do this. Perhaps a little bit of shopping will be required in January or perhaps a recall for Islam Slimani who would offer the Foxes a different outfit in attack. The 6ft 2in Algerian is currently on loan at Turkish side Fenerbache yet a return to the King Power in January could be on the cards if this system continues to be preferred by the manager.



Gutsy defensive performance from the Eagles

In fairness to Palace, the Foxes did not significantly test their defense in terms of efforts on target and clear-cut chances. However, their defensive display was extremely gutsy and Hodgson will be pleased with another clean sheet for his side.

The scoreline could have been different if it wasn’t for a finger-tip save from debutant keeper, Guaita, who had a memorable debut in front of his home crowd. A precise in-field ball from Rachid Ghezzal found Iheanacho whose delicately placed pass found its way to Vardy, who under pressure poked the ball goalless. Guaita got down well though and palmed the ball onto the woodwork to deny the Foxes an equaliser. Palace were perhaps a touch fortunate with the ball finding its way back into the arms of Guaita but when you’re fighting down the bottom of the league, luck is sometimes what you need.

Martin Kelly was worthy of mention in dispatches, after keeping Jamie Vardy quiet most of the afternoon and put his body on the line throughout in the centre of the Palace defence. His partnership with Sakho is blossoming and it could be defensive performances which keep Palace safe this year.

Festive fixtures not too festive for Palace and Leicester

Coincidently, both Leicester and Palace face the same opposition in their next three Premier League fixtures. The Foxes welcome Manchester City in the quarter-final of the Carabao Cup during the week while Palace travel to the Etihad in the league next weekend. The Eagles then welcome Cardiff and Chelsea during the festive period before traveling to Wolves in the New Year.

As for the Foxes, after their crunch tie against the Citizens in the cup, they face a difficult test at Stamford Bridge and then find the Champions at their turf once more on Boxing Day. Before a New Year’s Day fixture at Goodison Park, they welcome Cardiff to the KP which in the grand scheme of things could be a much-needed win for the Foxes.

Both Palace and Leicester therefore play two of the top six during the Christmas festivities and looking at the former clubs form in comparison to that of Leicester and Palace – the festivities could not be too festive for both sides.

No injury for Maddison

Rachid Ghezzal replaced James Maddison at half-time which seemingly was due to an injury to the latter. The £25m man, signed from Norwich in the summer, has been critical in Leicester performances this season and although the youngster struggled in the capital on Saturday, his substitution was presumed to be injury related.

However, Claude Puel admitted post-match that Maddison was not injured and in fact, the switch was tactically related. This has caused anger amongst Leicester fans and many have been calling for the managers head due to their recent lacklustre performances. The youngster is the Foxes joint highest goal scorer this season and has the ability to turn a game on its head and to take him off while the Foxes were 1-0 down and needed a way back into the match is utterly absurd.



A lack of creativity haunted the Foxes on Saturday and nobody looked like testing debutant Guaita in the Palace goal. Despite Ghezzal performing well during the second-half, he was unable to offer too much and chances were a few for the Foxes.

Eamon Kitching

Leicester City fan still holding onto our 15/16 Premier League success.

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