Will European involvement make Crystal Palace players less attractive in Fantasy Premier League (FPL) next season?
That’s one of the imponderables we consider as we continue with our 2025/26 team previews.
Here, the Eagles’ best FPL picks for the upcoming campaign are discussed. We’ll also attempt to predict the line-up for Gameweek 1, review pre-season, detail the best players for defensive contributions (DC) and more.
GET ALL THE KEY FPL DATA TODAY!
The data and graphics in this article come from either our Members Area or Statsbomb, with whom we are again partnering in 2025/26.
Fantasy managers can get access to the wealth of Statsbomb numbers, as well as the usual Opta stats, new defensive contribution (DC) points, recalculated points from last season, exclusive articles, transfer planner, tools and app, with a 47% discounted Chief Scout membership today.
REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL
FORM SINCE LAST DECEMBER
A strong end to 2023/24 brought six wins and four clean sheets in seven matches but their start to 2024/25 was strangely bad. Stuck in the relegation zone due to three points from eight, Palace only won once before Gameweek 14.
Above: A 10-game rolling average of Palace’s expected goals (xG, green) compared to expected goals conceded (xGC, purple)
Yet results dramatically improved. Between then and Gameweek 28, the Eagles won nine of 15, as only Liverpool accumulated more points than their 30. Clean sheets increased, while no team had a better non-penalty expected goals (NPxG) improvement (+7.01) when comparing their first 19 and second 19 outings.
It all climaxed with a famous FA Cup final victory over Manchester City, securing the club’s first-ever trophy.
SET-PIECE THREAT
A big chunk of this success was because of dead-ball situations. No Premier League side had more of them end in a shot (173), as they delivered 17 goals – joint-top with Arsenal and Nottingham Forest, though Palace pipped both for set-piece expected goals (xG, 17.02).
Just Everton ended with a higher proportion of goals from these.
Individually, Eberechi Eze (£7.5m) was top of the pile for set-play shots (36) and teammate Maxence Lacroix (£5.0m) ranked joint-second (27) thanks to his 20 headers.
REASONS TO BE FEARFUL
LESS TIME BETWEEN MATCHES
