English Premier League Soccer - Leicester City vs. Crystal Palace, 7/4/20 - Preview, Prediction & Odds

Without a victory in three EPL games, 3rd-placed Leicester City will try to bag all three points while hosting 12th-placed Crystal Palace, who have dropped their past two decisions without scoring a goal. Kick-off - at 10:00 AM ET on Saturday, July 4.

Leicester Lose At Everton

The winless run of Leicester City extended to three Premier League fixtures (D2 L1) after the team was edged with a count of 2-1 by Everton at Goodison Park on Wednesday. The Foxes controlled the ball 65% of the time and outshot the hosts 15-7, but allowed two goals, including a penalty, in the first 16 minutes of the contest, managing to reply with just a single marker courtesy of a lucky second-half rebound off substitute Kelechi Iheanacho. Leicester have now failed to win any of their past five league travels (D2 L3), but are still occupying the 3rd place in the EPL (W16 D7 L9), just one point ahead of 4th-placed Chelsea.

English striker Jamie Vardy leads the Foxes in scoring, having netted a league-high 19 strikes alongside Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Goalie Kasper Schmeichel, meanwhile, sits 9th in the EPL with 85 saves. He has collected 11 clean sheets in 32 appearances this season and gives up a goal every 93 minutes of play. Leicester have buried the 3rd highest quantity of snipes so far this year (60), while delivering the 5th highest amount of shots per game (13.9). The team is 4th in ball possession (55.1%) and 6th in passing accuracy (82.7%).

Palace Get Beaten In Second Straight

Crystal Palace dropped their second consecutive decision after following up the 4-0 road fiasco at the hands of Liverpool on June 24 with a 1-0 home defeat to Burnley at Selhurst Park on Monday. The Eagles controlled the ball 58% of the time and outshot the visitors 17-8, but failed to score a single goal for the second straight match, allowing the only snipe of the game just after the hour mark. Prior to the current skid, Crystal Palace won four Premier League contests in a row, keeping a clean sheet in all of them. The team is 12th in the EPL (W11 D9 L12), sitting just five points below the top-seven.

With nine league markers netted this season, Ghanaian forward Jordan Ayew tops his team’s scoring table but has gone without a goal for two consecutive games after finding the back of the net in each of the previous three. Goalie Vicente Guaita, meanwhile, sits 8th in the Premier League with 92 saves. He has picked up 10 clean sheets in 29 games during the ongoing campaign and allows a goal every 90 minutes on average. Crystal Palace are 2nd in the least goals banked this year (28), 2nd in the least shots delivered per game (9.8), 15th in ball possession (46.2%) and 14th in passing accuracy (76.0%).

Prediction

After starting the current season on a high, losing just two of their first 17 outings in the Premier League (W12 D3 L2), Leicester City has gone on a downward spiral. The Foxes have posted just one triumph in their last eight league games (W1 D4 L3) and have dropped points in six of their previous eight domestic contests in the EPL (W2 D3 L3). Crystal Palace have been awful in their last two matches, losing both without scoring a goal against Liverpool (4-0) and Burnley (1-0), but was riding a four-game winning streak prior. The Eagles have also performed well against Leicester, going unbeaten versus the Foxes for five straight fixtures (W4 D1) before losing this season’s reverse contest 2-0 in London.

Best bet:

Crystal Palace Double Chance (Win or Draw) (+100)

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