Palace chief Hodgson praises superior Foxes

Roy Hodgson has accepted Crystal Palace’s 2-0 home defeat against Leicester City on Sunday because the opposition are in the top four “on merit”. The Eagles went into the game at Selhurst Park sitting in the top six in the Premier League after surpassing expectations in the opening weeks of the season.
Leicester arrived on the back of a record-breaking 9-0 win at Southampton in their previous league game and knew victory in south London would propel them back into third spot ahead of Chelsea.
Brendan Rodgers’ side ultimately came out on top thanks to Caglar Soyuncu’s header on 57 minutes before the prolific Jamie Vardy grabbed his 10th of the season late on.
The Foxes will be hopeful of remaining in the top four after their superb start, while Hodgson has always been realistic about the chances of his men staying in and around that position.
He does feel that Leicester have been building to this point for a while and pointed out the key difference between the teams.
The first is that Leicester carry “a very clear goal threat”, which is something that has been lacking at Palace given Hodgson has stressed his desire to bring in a forward in January.
He added: “We have to work very hard for our chances and hope that whoever gets them will convert them, whereas they’ve got that constant goal threat, which to be fair they’ve always had with Jamie Vardy. “The service he’s getting now and the ability of their midfield to keep the ball and ask questions of the opposition is elevating them. They are in the top four on merit because that’s how well they’re playing and that’s how good their squad is.”
The Eagles are now down to ninth on the back of Sunday’s defeat although they are still ahead of Manchester United, who are a place behind.