Leicester City v Crystal Palace: Flying Foxes can continue resurgence with home win

Leicester v Crystal Palace
Saturday, 12:30
Live on Sky Sports Premier League

Foxes firing under Puel

Leicester City are one of the form teams in the Premier League after an excellent start to life under new boss Claude Puel. The Foxes got off to a slow start to the campaign which ultimately cost Craig Shakespeare his job but City have been on a superb run over the last few months. Puel has only lost one match, against runaway leaders Manchester City, in his opening eight games in charge.

The 2015-16 Premier League champions have shown glimpses of the quality which took them to their miraculous title in recent weeks. The Foxes have won four games in a row including a 2-1 home success over Tottenham. City are eighth in the table but only five points off the top four after Puel returned to former club Southampton and watched his new side romp to an outstanding 4-1 victory on Wednesday night.

Eagles climbing towards safety after shocking start

Crystal Palace are also heading in the right direction, albeit with much less ambition targets after a disastrous start to the season. The Eagles appeared to be marooned at the foot of the table after losing their first seven league games without even scoring a goal. But Roy Hodgson, who replaced Frank de Boer in September, has overseen a significant improvement from his side over the last few months.

A home win over the champions Chelsea got Palace up and running and their form at Selhurst Park has been key to guiding them off the bottom of the table. The return to fitness of Wilfried Zaha has been a major boost with the attacker's pace and creativity providing a much-needed goal threat. Palace temporarily climbed out of the relegation zone on Tuesday after a dramatic comeback, with two goals after the 88th minute, saw them defeat Watford 2-1.

Leicester good value to claim home win

Leicester are worthy favourites and look well worth backing at odds of 1.98. The hosts are in excellent form after a run of four successive wins and are playing with renewed confidence under their new boss. Palace have struggled away from home, where they are without a victory, so this looks a big opportunity for the Foxes to potentially close the gap on the top seven with a win.

There have been encouraging signs from Palace under Hodgson but most of these have been at home and it is difficult to find confidence in a side with just two points from eight away matches. The Eagles are the only team in the division yet to score on the road and this fixture does not look to offer them a great chance of ending their winless run. Palace do not appeal at odds of 4.50.

The draw is on offer at 3.60 but this does not look particularly attractive compared with backing the in-form Foxes. Only one of the last six meetings between the teams have finished in a stalemate and this fixture looks to be in the hands of the hosts. If Leicester play at the level of recent weeks it will probably be too much for their opponents and City should be confidently backed.

Palace's scoring troubles continue on road

As mentioned, Palace have failed to find the net all season away from home which makes a Leicester win to nil worthy of strong consideration at 9/4. But Hodgson's side are going to score sooner rather than later and the Foxes have not been particularly strong defensively. City have only managed one clean sheet in the last seven matches which suggests this may not be such a safe bet despite Palace's struggles in front of goal.

Ref Watch

Martin Atkinson will referee this weekend's game and the official has sent off two players this season including Tottenham's Davison Sanchez at Watford. He only handed out three red cards in 43 matches during the last campaign.

Recommended Bet
Back Leicester to win at 1.98