Eze v Mateta: Who is the best Palace pick for FPL 2024/25?

Jean-Philippe Mateta has climbed from £5.0m to £7.5m in Fantasy Premier League (FPL) 2024/25.

It means he now costs half a million more than team-mate Eberechi Eze, who has risen from £6.0m at the start of last season to £7.0m.

Some Fantasy managers will be tempted to punt on a Crystal Palace attacker given their appealing opening run of fixtures, but which one is best?

Using Opta data and StatsBomb visualisations, we’ll investigate in this Premium Members piece.

One thing worth mentioning before we begin in earnest is that Mateta will be involved at the Olympics with France over the coming weeks. The final is on August 10, a week before the season starts, so he ought to be back with the Eagles before Gameweek 1 even if Les Blues go deep into the tournament.

Nevertheless, it remains to be see how much a missed pre-season with the Eagles factors into Glasner’s selection come the opening weekend.

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EZE V MATETA: GOAL THREAT UNDER GLASNER

The arrival of Glasner at Selhurst Park in February transformed Jean-Philippe Mateta’s season.

Before that, the 27-year-old had scored only three times in 2023/24.

However, from Gameweek 26 onwards (Glasner’s first match in charge), Mateta went on to plunder 13 goals in 13 Premier League games, more than any other player in that period.

As the focal point of Crystal Palace’s attack, the Frenchman averaged a shot every 38.1 minutes.

It’s not a particularly impressive figure and it was bettered by many other FPL forwards, but every single one of those efforts was at least inside the penalty box, which is captured below.

As for Eberechi Eze, among Premier League midfielders with more than 750 minutes to their names in Gameweeks 26-38, Eze was fifth for minutes per shot (25.3), only behind Mohamed Salah (16.3), Cole Palmer (17.0), Bukayo Saka (23.4) and Phil Foden (25.3).

Just over 42% of his shots were from outside of the box, however.

Meanwhile, Mateta was involved in 58% of Crystal Palace’s goals under Glasner, a significant hike from Eze’s 38%.

That said, one thing that really stands out is Mateta’s goal conversion rate: a whopping 34.8% of the shots he took last season ended up in the net. That’s a figure we don’t often see in the Premier League.

Indeed, in 2023/24, only four forwards with more than 1,500 minutes bettered 20%, let alone 30%, with their shot-to-goal conversion rates.

EZE V MATETA: ASSIST POTENTIAL UNDER GLASNER

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