Leeds United v Crystal Palace: Huge new blow sees first choice join star man in being ruled out

A star man will definitely miss Sunday’s clash between Leeds United and Crystal Palace and be joined on the sidelines by a newly-injured first choice key player.

Talisman Palace striker Wilfried Zaha suffered a groin strain in last weekend’s 2-1 victory at home to Leicester City in boss Roy Hodgson’s first game back in charge of the Eagles. Zaha pulled up sharply and went to ground as he looked to make his way into the Foxes penalty area towards the end of the first half. The 30-year-old was unable to continue and left the pitch close to tears, casting huge doubt as to his availability for Sunday’s clash against Leeds.

Speaking at Friday’s pre-match press conference, Eagles boss Hodgson confirmed that Zaha would definitely be out and that first choice keeper Vicente Guaita had also suffered a fresh injury blow. Guaita has started 27 of Palace’s 29 league games this season and played the full duration of last weekend’s win against Leicester but the Spanish keeper now has a calf problem. His injury has left four Palace players out with Chris Richards and Nathan Ferguson close to returning but still sidelined. Richards and Ferguson both missed out against Leicester due to minor issues.

Providing an update on Zaha, Hodgson said: “It’s a groin strain. He’s having treatment. The doctors and physios wont put a time on it.”