Crystal Palace have made a promising start to their 2021/22 campaign, despite a tough opening set of fixtures which has seen the Eagles visit all of the current top five: Chelsea, Manchester City, West Ham United, Liverpool and Arsenal.
During their opening 11 Premier League matches, they have lost just two games and conceded 14 goals, and given that most of their difficult matches are behind them, it’s easy to see why many Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers are now considering their assets ahead of Gameweek 12.
With Selhurst Park encounters against Aston Villa, Everton, Southampton and Norwich City to come before the end of the year, plus away trips to Burnley, Leeds United and Watford, they certainly have one of the kinder schedules, but who are the best players to own in FPL for this run?
In this, our latest Fantasy Football Scout Premium Members article, we’ll take a closer look.
THE OUTLOOK
After a 3-0 loss at Chelsea on the opening day, a match which Thomas Tuchel’s side completely dominated, even the most optimistic Palace fans must have been fearing the worst.
However, that result proved to be an anomaly, as they have since lost just one match and have now recorded back-to-back wins over champions Man City and Wolverhampton Wanderers. Notably, they’ve done that despite recruiting a new manager and a host of new players in the summer, whilst introducing a new, possession-based style.
Defensively, they have been excellent, while the underlying statistics suggest that they have been a little unfortunate to concede 14 goals, despite that tougher schedule we touched on above.
CRYSTAL PALACE’S DEFENSIVE STATISTICS 2021/22:
| Metric | Total | Rank v other Premier League teams |
| Goals conceded | 14 | 9th= |
| Clean sheets | 4 | 6th= |
| xGC | 10.80 | 2nd |
| Non-pen xGC | 10.80 | 3rd |
Going forward, they have posted mid-table numbers to date, though with easier fixtures, you’d expect that to improve in the coming weeks.
CRYSTAL PALACE’S ATTACKING STATISTICS 2021/22:
| Metric | Total | Rank v other Premier League teams |
| Goals scored | 15 | 8th= |
| xG | 13.90 | 11th |
| Non-pen xG | 12.32 | 11th |
THE TACTICS
The most eye-catching change at Palace since Patrick Vieira’s appointment has been a shift from Roy Hodgson’s 4-4-2, which focused on long balls into the channels and quick counter-attacks, to a more energetic, attack-minded 4-3-3 / 4-2-3-1 formation.
The tactic places a greater emphasis on possession and pressing in the final-third, with the impressive Conor Gallagher (£5.8m) – no. 23 below – often pushing forward and joining the attack.
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