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Leicester City vs. Crystal Palace: Combined XI ahead of Premier League clash

By Craig Pearson

BRUGES, BELGIUM - SEPTEMBER 14: Riyad Mahrez of Leicester City in action during the Champions League tie between Club Brugge and Leicester City at Jan Breydel Stadium on September 14, 2016 in Bruges, Belgium. (Photo by Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images)
BRUGES, BELGIUM - SEPTEMBER 14: Riyad Mahrez of Leicester City in action during the Champions League tie between Club Brugge and Leicester City at Jan Breydel Stadium on September 14, 2016 in Bruges, Belgium. (Photo by Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images) /
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LEICESTER, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 27: Daniel Drinkwater of Leicester City battles with Andre Silva of FC Porto during the UEFA Champions League Group G match between Leicester City FC and FC Porto at The King Power Stadium on September 27, 2016 in Leicester, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
LEICESTER, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 27: Daniel Drinkwater of Leicester City battles with Andre Silva of FC Porto during the UEFA Champions League Group G match between Leicester City FC and FC Porto at The King Power Stadium on September 27, 2016 in Leicester, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images) /

Central Midfield

The formation of the team is a 4-2-3-1, so now we have a back four and goalkeeper, it’s time to pick a central midfield. Two players will occupy the positions and the first is Leicester’s Danny Drinkwater.

Drinkwater hasn’t been as good as he was last season, but he’s still been good enough to take his place in this combined XI. The loss of N’Golo Kante has made Drinkwater’s job much harder and the Englishman is still adapting to that.

Kante covered a lot of ground and offered a lot of energy and defensive cover that is no longer in the team. Drinkwater is covering for that loss as best he can, and as time goes on, should grow more accustomed to the extra work load.

His partner in this team is Palace’s James McArthur. Joe Ledley had a good shout also, but McArthur just pips his teammate. The Scot is one of the unsung heroes of Palace’s team, although Eagles fans understand just how important his contribution is.

McArthur does a lot of the dirty work in the Palace midfield to aid the more talented players higher up the pitch. Which is exactly what McArthur, alongside Drinkwater, would be doing in this lineup.

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