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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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LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 30: Crystal Palace’s Christian Benteke shields the ball from Everton’s Phil Jagielka during the Premier League match between Everton and Crystal Palace at Goodison Park on September 30, 2016 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Terry Donnally – CameraSport/CameraSport via Getty Images)
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 30: Crystal Palace’s Christian Benteke shields the ball from Everton’s Phil Jagielka during the Premier League match between Everton and Crystal Palace at Goodison Park on September 30, 2016 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Terry Donnally – CameraSport/CameraSport via Getty Images) /

Number 10 and Striker

A number 10 and a lone striker will round out this combined XI. The central playmaker will be Riyad Mahrez of Leicester City. Much like the rest of his teammates, Mahrez has not hit the heights of last season. But the Algerian still weaves his magic at times.

Mahrez is yet to register an assist in the Premier League this season. That will have to change after posting 11 assists last season. But Mahrez still gets the nod as the number 10 in this XI. The lone striker Mahrez will play behind is Christian Benteke.

Benteke has found his form again after joining Palace in the summer. The Belgian was one of the best Premier League hitmen a few years ago, and though he’s not back at that level yet, he’s at least going in the right direction now.

Benteke is a perfect lone striker with his strength and ability to hold up the ball. Not to mention his desire to get on the end of crosses and score goals. A Mahrez-Benteke link-up would be good to watch, and Zaha and Townsend would always be there, too, for service form out wide.

That concludes the XI. Here is the final lineup:

Leicester-Palace - Football tactics and formations
Leicester-Palace - Football tactics and formations /

Palace had more players in the team by a margin of 8-3. Surprising considering that Leicester are the champions. But not so much considering the Foxes have won just once in five games. In the same amount of time, Palace have won on three occasions.

Next: How high can Bournemouth finish this season?

Will the game on Saturday go to recent form? Leicester need to return to winning ways sooner rather than later before the pressure begins to build. Whether Palace is a good team to be facing to get that win is open for question.

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