Who are the best Crystal Palace players to own in FPL?

A terrible start to 2024/25 quickly removed the appeal of Crystal Palace players to Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers. Having ended last season in magnificent form, the Eagles now found themselves inside the relegation zone until Gameweek 12.

However, a corner seems to have been turned. They’ve lost just once in nine matches, taking points off Manchester City, Newcastle, Chelsea and Aston Villa while also beating rivals Brighton.

Brilliant fixtures stretch until early April – the best bunch, according to Fantasy Football Scout’s Season Ticker.

Taking all this into account, let’s see which Palace players are worth our Fantasy attention.

DEFENCE

Clean sheets are low but, despite centre-backs Trevoh Chalobah (£4.4m) and Marc Guehi (£4.5m) scoring five times between themselves, the standout option is definitely their attacking Daniel Munoz (£4.7m).

His last 10 outings have brought two goals, 15 penalty area shots and seven big chances. Remember, this is someone listed as a defender. He had a huge effort inside the six-yard box against Southampton, following it with a near-assist versus Chelsea.

Of all players in this position, he’s currently ranked second for box touches (59) and box shots (20) but is first when it comes to big chances (eight), attempts on target (eight) and expected goals (xG, 3.35).

Although Dean Henderson (£4.5m) is arguably the best goalkeeper for his price point, it’s hard to resist wing-back Munoz for slightly more.

ATTACK

Meanwhile, as a team, Oliver Glasner’s side have a low 21 goals.

Cheap attacking midfielder Ismaila Sarr (£5.9m) has 12 consecutive starts, grabbing three goals and an assist during Gameweeks 16 and 17 but – typically – has three blanks since gaining FPL popularity.

Still, in these five Gameweeks, he’s joint-third throughout the whole league for big chances (five) and joint-fourth for putting efforts on target (eight). Over the season, he’s Palace’s leader for the latter (19), as well as box touches (75).

Furthermore, he outdoes Eberechi Eze (£6.6m) for big chances (10 v 7) and setting them up (8 v 6) but the England international takes set-pieces and is way better for both shots (57) and attempts created (31) – albeit at a higher price.

He’s also on consecutive returns. Eze scored past Southampton, then set up Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.2m) versus Chelsea. It was just the fourth match in 18 starts where the centre-forward had netted but managers still fondly remember him for how he ended last season.

His 29 points of Double Gameweek 34 was the biggest individual score of 2023/24, kick-starting a spell of nine goals in the closing six matches. Only one person accumulated more points between Gameweeks 28 and 38.

Moreover, penalties belong to Mateta rather than Eze, though there’s the slight threat of rotation from £30m signing Eddie Nketiah (£5.9m).

FINAL THOUGHTS

If your midfield already has the likes of Bryan Mbeumo (£7.8m), Bruno Fernandes (£8.3m) and Anthony Gordon (£7.5m) alongside the two premium pillars, there might be no room for Sarr or Eze.

It’d be a shame though, as Sarr seems to provide superb value and Eze always passes the eye test.

On the other hand, Mateta is a good escape route for frustrated Nicolas Jackson (£8.1m) owners. He provides explosive differential potential.

At the back, Munoz has a similar appeal to in-form Lewis Hall (£4.9m) and Antonee Robinson (£5.0m) but offers a higher goal threat.