Even though Michael Olise could not resist the pull of Bayern Munich, Eberechi Eze and Marc Guehi staying put, Jean-Philippe Mateta carrying his goalscoring exploits over to the Olympics and Adam Wharton strutting his stuff in midfield would seemingly be the recipe for Premier League success for Crystal Palace.

However, the Eagles have lost their way and then some since the start of the 2024-25 campaign, being condemned to opening losses to Brentford and West Ham United before banishing some demons in a 4-0 EFL Cup trouncing of Norwich City.

The high from that crushing of the Canaries was evident at Stamford Bridge two weekends ago, where against a Chelsea side who had just hit Wolverhampton Wanderers for six, Oliver Glasner's troops stole a point as Eberechi Eze cancelled out Nicolas Jackson's opener in a 1-1 draw.

On account of picking up their first point of the campaign, Palace are hovering just above the relegation zone in 16th place at this embryonic point of the season, and the underwhelming hosts ought to have been one of the teams to have benefitted hugely from the September international break.

The Selhurst Park faithful could be forgiven for resigning their side to defeat if Leicester score first, though, as Palace are yet to win a Premier League game under Glasner in which they have gone behind, losing five and drawing two of those seven such battles.

Leicester's report card for 2024-25 is eerily similar to that of their hosts, having also managed just one point from a possible nine in the Premier League while storming to a 4-0 EFL Cup victory; Tranmere Rovers were their victims in that second-round tie.

However, the Foxes have failed to build on a praiseworthy draw with Tottenham Hotspur in their opening bout of the season, suffering back-to-back 2-1 losses to Fulham at Craven Cottage and Aston Villa on home territory either side of their Tranmere trouncing.

The die was cast against the Lions when Amadou Onana and Jhon Duran put Unai Emery's men two goals to the good, although the effervescent Facundo Buonanotte at least managed to prolong the Foxes' streak of scoring in every game so far this season.

That statistic only offers Steve Cooper and co a small crumb of comfort as the Foxes sit 15th in the early-season standings, and they have also conceded the first goal in each of their three league games so far this season; they were relegated on the previous two occasions where they shipped first in the first four games of a Premier League season.

Leicester actually scored first in their last trip to Selhurst Park, only to succumb to a 90th-minute Mateta winner in an eventual 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace, whose nine wins against the visitors is the most they have managed against a single team in the Premier League.

Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:

Henderson; Chalobah, Guehi, Lacroix; Munoz, Wharton, Doucoure, Mitchell; Eze, Kamada; Mateta

Leicester City possible starting lineup:

Hermansen; Justin, Vestergaard, Faes, Kristiansen; Ndidi, Winks; Fatawu, Buonanotte, Ayew; Vardy