Leicester City will be hoping to turn over a new leaf when they host Crystal Palace in a relegation six-pointer on Wednesday night.
Leicester play Crystal Palace after thrashing QPR 6-2 in the FA Cup, with Ruud van Nistelrooy set for another reunion against Manchester United in the fourth round.
The cup acted as a welcomed distraction for Leicester, who had lost their previous five Premier League matches while conceding 14 goals.
Now, as they prepare to play a side who are just seven points and four places above them in the table, they’ll be hoping to earn a crucial three points.
Paul Merson has predicted Leicester to beat Palace at the King Power Stadium, with the opposition manager now praising some of van Nistelrooy’s stars.
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Oliver Glasner praises Bilal El Khannouss, Stephy Mavididi and Jamie Vardy
A six-goal haul in the FA Cup was a rare sighting for the supporters on Saturday as Leicester have struggled in front of goal recently.
Van Nistelrooy’s men have scored just twice in their last five league matches after starting his reign with three goals against West Ham and two at home to Brighton.
Despite just turning 38 years old, striker Jamie Vardy has shouldered the goalscoring responsibility once more with six goals in 18 Premier League appearances.
The Foxes are still reliant on the Englishman to deliver the match-winning blows and Palace manager Oliver Glasner has praised Vardy while naming two other Leicester players he fears.
“They have wingers with pace, like [Stephy] Mavididi. El Khannouss has signed for more than 20 million, a very creative player,” Glasner told Palace’s official website.
“Jamie Vardy is one of the top scorers in the last decade in the Premier League. So it’s a good team, a good mixture between experience and young and talented, high-challenging players. It’s a little challenging, but again, we feel very good.”
Jamie Vardy’s goal record vs Crystal Palace
Stephy Mavididi scored against Aston Villa in a match Leicester tasted defeat in while Bilal El Khannouss was incredible against QPR, and has been for most of the season.
However, the above duo don’t pose the same level of threat as Vardy, whose sharp movement and goal-scoring instinct is top-level.
Palace have discovered that over the years and have always feared coming up against the Leicester goal machine.
Indeed, Vardy has scored seven goals in 18 appearances against the Eagles, including a strike in the 2-2 draw earlier on in the season.
Van Nistelrooy will therefore hope his veteran striker has another moment of brilliance up his sleeve when the two sides meet on Wednesday night, with the game kicking off at 7:30 pm GMT.