Leicestervs.Crystal Palace

The Leicester boss went with a very strong starting XI for the FA Cup third round tie with Queens Park Rangers on Saturday, even naming Jamie Vardy in the side.

It being Vardy's 38th birthday on Saturday may have played some part in that, and the evergreen striker marked the special occasion with a goal in the 6-2 demolition of the Championship club.

One of the few positions up for grabs is to Vardy's right, with Facundo Buonanotte staking a claim to return to the league side after scoring in the win, but Jordan Ayew remains the man likely to feature from the outset.

Abdul Fatawu's season-ending knee injury means Stephy Mavididi is unlikely to see his place in the side come under much threat, while Bilal El Khannouss has also become a regular under the new manager.

Kasey McAteer will be pushing for minutes too though, with the wide man returning to training in the last week and only narrowly missing the QPR game after failing a late fitness test.

There will be no place in the squad for Wilfred Ndidi or Ricardo Pereira though, with the two still a few weeks away at least from making comebacks from injury.

Jannik Vestergaard will require a late fitness to see whether he can feature, after limping off in their defeat to Aston Villa just over a week ago, and subsequently missing the cup tie on Saturday, so Wout Faes may keep his place after scoring a stunning sixth against QPR.

The biggest miss will be in goal though, with their player of the season so far Mads Hermansen still sidelined, so Polish keeper Jakub Stolarczyk will continue to deputise, with Danny Ward out of the picture after his poor performance against Wolves in mid-December.

Leicester City possible starting lineup:

Stolarczyk; Justin, Coady, Faes, Kristiansen; Winks, Soumare; Ayew, El Khannouss, Mavididi; Vardy

Written by

Andrew Delaney