Why Crystal Palace can aim for a top half finish this season

After a successful first season in charge for Patrick Viera at Crystal Palace, we’ve looked into the stats and why they could aim for a top half finish this season.

The stats last season 

Crystal Palace ultimately finished 12th in the Premier League last time around on 48 points. 

That was a four point improvement on their finish in the 20/21 season and it still feels as if there is more to come from this squad.  

During the 21/22 season, Palace averaged an xG of 1.22 per 90, which they actually overperformed throughout the season.  

The biggest xG overperformer in the Palace squad was Wilfred Zaha who had the fourth biggest xG overperformance in the Premier League at 4.6. 

The likes of Conor Gallagher, Jeffrey Schlupp and Michael Olise also overperformed their xG throughout the year. 

One of their biggest strengths last season though was how resilient they were at the back. 

On average, they only conceded an xG of 1.08 per 90, which was the fourth lowest in the Premier League and was only bettered by Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Spurs. 

Last season Palace drew 15 matches, which was the joint most in the Premier League, alongside Brighton.  

If they can turn some of those draws into wins this time around, there’s no reason why they can’t make up the three point gap to the top half of the table. 

 

New transfer policy 

Since Patrick Viera’s arrival, there has clearly been a focus on recruiting young up-and-coming stars who they can develop at the club. 

The average age of their new signings in the 21/22 season was just 22.22, which highlights their new model. 

During Roy Hodgson’s final season with the club, Palace had the oldest average age in the entire league at 28.8 years old and this has been drastically reduced under Viera.  

The average age of the Crystal Palace squad now sits at 26.5 years old, which ranks them in the middle of the Premier League.  

Marc Guehi and Joachim Andersen formed the base of their defence last season, taking over the mantle from Gary Cahill and James Tomkins.  

The likes of Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise have also turned out to be savvy additions to the side over the past few years. 

This summer, Palace have signed the likes of Cheick Doucoure, Chris Richards and Malcolm Ebiowei, who are all under the age of 23. 

Cheick Doucoure is one of the most exciting additions to the Premier League this season and he will look to fill the void which has been left by Connor Gallagher returning to Chelsea. 

Last season Gallagher was Palace’s second highest goalscorer with eight league goals and his energy in midfield was a big factor in how they played. 

Doucoure will restore that energy to the Palace midfield as his is a combative box-to-box midfielder who can do a bit of everything.  

 

The season opener 

Crystal Palace will kick off the new Premier League season on Friday night by hosting Arsenal at Selhurst Park.  

Last season Palace only lost four home matches and they conceded just 0.89 goals per game at home.  

Palace also went unbeaten against Arsenal last season and they recorded a memorable 3-0 victory over them in April. 

Palace scored 1.42 goals per game in home matches last season and they will prove to be a stern test for Arsenal on the season opener. 

After only winning one of their opening nine fixtures last season, Palace will be keen to get off to a better start to the season this time around. 

Having said that, their opening fixtures do look particularly tricky on paper as they face Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City all within the first four gameweeks of the season.