Best picks from Crystal Palace for Double Gameweek 37
Crystal Palace play twice in Double Gameweek 37. So let’s assess their best FPL options ahead of matches against Aston Villa and Everton.
Having gone 1-0 down at Southampton – with mid-table security and very little to play for – it would have been easy for Crystal Palace to let both this match and season fade away. Yet goals from Eberechi Eze and Wilfried Zaha soon turned it around into a 2-1 victory, suggesting that perhaps we spend too much time thinking about motivation and ‘being on the beach’.
Palace followed their FA Cup semi-final defeat to Chelsea with a 1-0 loss at Newcastle and a 0-0 draw with Leeds. Furthermore, the days when Conor Gallagher was a near-essential FPL asset feel a long time ago. But perhaps Patrick Vieira’s first season in charge can end on a high with some promising fixtures.
The trip to Villa Park could be anything – like the Southampton game, it’s an occasion where both sides are already safe. Whilst lack of motivation could occur, it’s also a chance to play without pressure or a need to defend.
Underlying Stats
Not that defending is difficult for this impressive and underrated back line. Only Vicente Guaita (6.1%) has over 2.5% overall ownership and it’s even rarer amongst the top 10k.
Before yesterday’s clash with Watford, the Eagles had the league’s fourth-best defence in terms of expected goals conceded (xGC). They rank highly in several other defensive comparisons. In fact, three successive clean sheets were kept between Gameweeks 28 and 31.
That makes affordable options like Marc Guehi (£4.5m) and Tyrick Mitchell (£4.5m) very reasonable, alongside the four assists of Joachim Andersen (£4.6m).
Ownership for Double Gameweek
Using LiveFPL’s data on teams in the top 10k, it seems like only Jean-Philippe Mateta has solid ownership. At one point, loanee Gallagher was in over 2.5 million squads but this is now down to one million mostly inactive teams. Six goals and five assists arrived up until Gameweek 16 but just three returns since.
The next trend was forward Odsonne Edouard, who grabbed three goals and four assists from six games around Christmas and New Year. Naturally, he was immediately benched and has only started twice since.
So, when it comes to the cheap Mateta, there needs to be caution. He has been the starting forward in seven of nine matches, netting three times. Not bad for £5.3m but also not good enough to make him undroppable, as Edouard discovered.
With the contrasting form of Gallagher and Zaha, it’s likely the latter will soon become Palace’s top FPL scorer for this season. Being benched at Southampton still didn’t keep Zaha off the scoresheet, taking him up to 12 – his best ever Premier League goal tally. Although just providing one assist is far less than most other campaigns.
Six goals from his last nine matches makes Zaha their best attacking asset for Double Gameweek 37, with Mateta useful because of his price.
Community Chatter
FPL Swede already had Zaha on his radar before his goal at Southampton.
Whereas Prop Joe has a unique suggestion to get around the problem of Crystal Palace’s rotating forwards.
