Crystal Palace vs Southampton 01/09/18: Opposition threat

Wilfried Zaha

The Ivorian attacker Wilfried Zaha is by far Crystal Palace’s most important player – with the side not picking up a single point without him in the previous campaign, and although they did lose games with him in the team, it will come as no surprise that the Saints beat the eagles in one of a few games Zaha was injured for at the start of the season.

In the 17/18 campaign – the former Manchester United man was only out scored by designated penalty taker Luka Milivojevic (10) – scoring just one less than the Serbian in seven less games.

Although only contributing to three assists, there is no doubt that the former England man was imperative to the Palace attack. His statistics are unchallenged in the Eagles ranks when considering dribbles per game, and only beaten in the entire league by Eden Hazard – coming in with 4.1 every single match, pushing his team towards the goal into the final third and 18 yard-box.

His role in the Palace goal threat is also proven through his average of 1.8 key passes a game, matched by only Andros Townsend when compared to his own teammates. This simply shows his regularly played the ‘pass before the assist’ as its know – or plays the pass that is key to instigating a dangerous attack.

Finally, Zaha is vital in the Palace set up due to the high amount of fouls he wins every game (an average of 2.6 last season) – equal with Ruben Loftus Cheek at the top of the Palace charts and in the league overall. This gave Place set piece takers Milivojevic and Towsend shooting chances but also gave them the opportunity to utilise players like James Tompkins, Scott Dan and Christian Benteke due to their areal presence in the box when the shot was not on.