Adrian Clarke looks at key tactical points and players who can be decisive in Matchweek 5.
Team analysis - Crystal Palace
Palace had to scramble to earn a late point against Leicester City last time out, with Jean-Philippe Mateta converting a last-minute penalty to salvage a 2-2 draw against a promoted team, but the dynamism of their new-look front three provides encouragement ahead of Saturday's home fixture against Manchester United.
Mateta was flanked by Eberechi Eze and Eddie Nketiah in Oliver Glasner’s 3-4-2-1 formation, and together they fashioned a combined 13 shots against Leicester.
Former Arsenal striker Nketiah had six attempts from his role to the right of centre, in a match where the Eagles amassed their highest Expected Goals (xG) tally of the season so far.
Palace's Expected Goals this season
| Matches | xG |
| v Leicester (H) | 2.55 |
|---|---|
| v West Ham (H) | 1.35 |
| v Brentford (A) | 1.17 |
| v Chelsea (A) | 0.54 |
How they lined up against Leicester
We know Glasner likes both wing-backs, Tyrick Mitchell and Daniel Munoz, to supply the bulk of his side’s width.
This allows Palace's three principal forwards to stay central in most attacking situations, which is a real positive when you have a trio of finishers as good as Mateta, Eze and Nketiah.
A typical example of their shape can be seen below, when a chance was created by Mitchell for Eze on his inside. Pushing both wing-backs on at the same time, they outnumbered Leicester in a 5v4 which is something they will aim to replicate against Man Utd.
Roving role for Nketiah
Of the three Palace attackers, it was debutant Nketiah who was afforded by far the most freedom.
He was their right-sided forward but slipped into central areas as expected to join in as a second striker, even popping up on the left of the area on occasion.
These pass maps below from Adam Wharton and Eze show how both players looked to find Nketiah with incisive forward passes whenever the 25-year-old moved away from his designated side on the right, and it is this type of movement that could prove problematic for Erik ten Hag’s team.
Wharton's passes to Nketiah v Leicester
Eze's passes to Nketiah v Leicester
Nketiah’s positioning will force left-back Diogo Dalot and left-sided central defender Lisandro Martinez to make testing decisions over who picks him up.
They may also need midfielder Kobbie Mainoo to drop off and screen Nketiah on occasion too.
Plenty of touches
As you can see on this touch map below, Nketiah proved very elusive in terms of making runs that helped get him to the ball inside the box.
Given a free role of sorts, he was able to surprise Leicester's players with his unexpected positioning.
He made a series of darting runs from deep – including a team-high 22 sprints – and had more touches inside the 18-yard box than he did in ANY of his Premier League appearances for Arsenal.
Nketiah's top matches for touches in box
| Date | Team | Opp. | Touches |
| 14 Sep '24 | Crystal Palace | Leicester | 15 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18 Feb '23 | Arsenal | Aston Villa | 13 |
| 11 Feb '23 | Arsenal | Brentford | 11 |
| 22 May '22 | Arsenal | Everton | 10 |
Another stat which will thrill his new head coach is that Nketiah’s 15 touches in the box equalled the best in a single match for a Palace player since the start of 2023/24.
Current centre-forward Mateta has never got into double figures during this period, which goes to show how energised Nketiah was against the Foxes.
Most touches for Palace players in the box
| Date | Player | Opp. | Touches |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 Nov '23 | Odsonne Edouard | Everton | 15 |
| 14 Sep '23 | Eddie Nketiah | Leicester | 15 |
| 19 May '24 | Michael Olise | Aston Villa | 12 |
| 11 Nov '23 | Eberechi Eze | Everton | 11 |
| 12 Aug '23 | Odsonne Edouard | Sheff Utd | 10 |
Setting up in this bold but narrow manner brings with it an element of risk when possession is lost for Palace.
Glasner will have a back five in place, but there will be moments from transitions where at least three of his outfield players are caught ahead of the ball.
When that happens, Man Utd will undoubtedly target the wing-back areas, knowing that Nketiah and Eze’s starting positions are almost always 20 yards infield.
But flipping this around to the positives for Palace, it could be a very challenging evening for Man Utd centre-backs Martinez and Matthijs de Ligt.
As he showed when arcing runs down the side of Leicester’s centre-backs, Nketiah’s speed and sharpness is a real asset to Palace.
The spare central defender who is not marking Mateta will always need to scan to see if Nketiah has popped up on his blindside with a forward run.
Nketiah showed a wonderful appetite to run hard for his new side, making a team-high 271 intensive runs last weekend.
Interestingly, Glasner selected a very strong starting XI in Palace's midweek EFL Cup win at Queens Park Rangers, giving his front three another match to get used to each other.
Continuing their pattern of unpredictable movement, Nketiah and Eze both scored at Loftus Road, with the former displaying instinctive movement to get in behind and finish.
With Mateta offering power, muscle and an aerial threat, Eze supplying matchwinning guile and Nketiah hungry to impress, you sense that Man Utd will have their hands full in south London.