Mitchell benefits from Palace’s first clean sheet since Gameweek 1

Crystal Palace 2-0 Sheff Utd

• Goals: Jeffrey Schlupp (£5.4m), Eberechi Eze (£5.8m)
• Assist: Christian Benteke (£5.5m), James McArthur (£5.2m)
• Bonus points: McArthur x3, James Tomkins x2 (£4.5m), Vicente Guaita x1 (£4.8m)

TYRICKSHANK RICKDEMPTION

Tyrick Mitchell (£3.9m) made a swift return to the Fantasy Premier League spotlight in Gameweek 17 as he played all 90 minutes of Crystal Palace’s 2-1 win over Sheffield United.

The left-back was a key component of budget defensive rotations earlier in the campaign but lost his place to Patrick van Aanholt (£5.4m) in Gameweek 7.

After going nine Premier League matches without registering a single minute, Mitchell came back for the Gameweek 16 draw with Leicester in what appeared to be Roy Hodgson exercising some festive rotation

However, against Sheffield United, the 21-year-old held onto the left-back berth six days after Crystal Palace’s Gameweek 16 fixture, the fact that van Aanholt was on the bench again heavily indicating Mitchell has established himself in the first team once again.

How often his 15.1% ownership will start him in the coming weeks remains to be seen considering the Eagles’ next two matches take them to Arsenal and Manchester City.

Meanwhile, their clean sheet on Saturday was just Palace’s second of the campaign, the first since Gameweek 1. And, of course, it was recorded against the Premier League’s worst attack Sheffield United, who have scored just eight goals in 17 matches so far (0.5 per game).

Still, finally having another starting defender in this price bracket could come in very handy over the coming weeks, especially with Max Kilman (£4.1m) recently losing his place for Wolves.

THAT WAS EZE

Wilfried Zaha (£7.4m) could be on the chopping board for his 22% ownership ahead of Double Gameweek 19. 

Palace have just one fixture in that round, arguably one the hardest possible in a trip to Manchester City, who have the joint-best home defence this season (seven goals conceded).

He goes into the mini chip season on the back of five blanks from a possible six since Gameweek 12, his only goal in that time coming against Leicester.

In Saturday’s win over Sheffield United, the Ivory Coast international did play well, driving the ball forward for Palace’s opening goal, only to end up the assister for the assister. He crossed to Christian Benteke (£5.5m), who teed up Jeffrey Schlupp (£5.4m) for the finish.

It was Eberechi Eze (£5.8m) who stole the show against Sheffield United though, pressing into unguarded space in Sheffield United’s midfield and shrugging off Ethan Ampadu before rolling a cultured finish beyond Aaron Ramsdale (£4.7m) in first-half stoppage time.

While the former QPR man only has one goal in the last three Gameweeks, it is worth highlighting that is the same number as Zaha, who has played more minutes in that time.

After missing out on the starting XI in Gameweeks 16 and 17, any questions over Eze’s place in the team were eased by a first-half injury to Jeffrey Schlupp (£5.4m), as well as his impressive performance.

After scoring the game’s opening goal, a hamstring issue forced the former Leicester man off, which Hodgson described as “concerning”. 

“[The injury to] Benteke is a dead leg. Schlupp is more concerning. A muscle injury, his hamstring.” – Roy Hodgson

Crystal Palace XI (4-4-2): Guaita; Mitchell, Kouyaté, Tomkins, J Ward; Schlupp (Eze 40′), Milivojevic (Riedewald 90+5′), McArthur, A Townsend; Zaha, Benteke (Ayew 48′).

Sheffield United XI (3-5-2): Ramsdale; Stevens, Egan, Ampadu; Osborn (Hackford 80′), Fleck, Norwood, Basham, Bogle; Mousset (Brewster 61′), McGoldrick.

Lessons learned from FPL Gameweek 17

• Everton 0-1 West Ham United
• Manchester United 2-1 Aston Villa
• Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 Leeds United
• Crystal Palace 2-0 Sheffield United
• Brighton and Hove Albion 3-3 Wolverhampton Wanderers
• West Bromwich Albion 0-4 Arsenal
• Burnley P-P Fulham
• Newcastle United 1-2 Leicester City
• Chelsea 1-3 Manchester City
• Southampton 1-0 Liverpool