European battle leaves homefront exposed as Leicester City and Manchester United face crunch time
With Champions League and Europa League quarter-final second legs next week, a number of key players will be rested this weekend in the Premier League
As if betting on the English Premier League was not difficult enough, the final weeks of the season always throw a different set of imponderables into the mix, and one that could play a big part this weekend is the European factor in Crystal Palace against Leicester City and Manchester United against Chelsea.
Leicester are at home to Atletico Madrid in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final next week, while United host Anderlecht in their return match at the same stage of the Europa League.
With both ties finely balanced, it is likely that a number of key players will be rested this weekend to keep them sharp for European battle.
Premier League points are not as vital for Leicester now that they have moved eight points clear of the relegation zone, and interim manager Craig Shakespeare has been able to switch his main focus to the Champions League.
That was evident last week when Leicester went to Everton in the Premier League and Shakespeare held back five of his first-choice line-up for the Champions League first leg, including both fullbacks and important attackers Riyad Mahrez and Shinji Okazaki. In addition, Jamie Vardy came off after an hour of the Everton match.
With Everton in good form, Leicester would have faced a tough match anyway and, with the level of difficulty increased by the absence of so many first-team players, they lost 4-2.
