After ending the 2023/24 season on a high, winning six of their final seven games, Crystal Palace entered the season full of optimism and expectation. However, it has not quite panned out the way Palace would have anticipated with the Eagles lying in 15th having won just four of their first 20 matches. They linger just five points above the drop zone on 21 points.
Following an underwhelming start to the campaign where Palace failed to win in their first eight league games, the pressure was mounting on manager Oliver Glasner. However, the Eagles enjoyed an upturn in form after defeating Tottenham Hotspur 1-0, losing only two of their last 12 matches easing the pressure on the Austrian manager, who joined the club in February of last year.
Palace have also shown signs of promise with a run to the Quarter-Finals in the EFL Cup. It was the first time they had reached this stage since their run to the Semi-Finals in 2012. However, they would go on to be beaten by Arsenal.
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Player of the Season so far
The standout player for Crystal Palace this season has been Colombian international Daniel Munoz, who joined this time last year in the January window.
Munoz has had a crucial role to Palace’s side as he has won the most tackles in Europe’s Top five leagues this season with 47. The right wing-back often comes out on top with his challenges and duels. He is also essential in the way the Eagles attack as he is often covering lots of distance with his exceptional sprint speed.
Glasner has spoken before about the former Genk player’s mentality saying that in every training session, he is the player who is always running and sprinting the most. The defender is often able to dart forwards into the penalty area overlapping the player in front of him in the right sided ‘10’ position.
As well as being an energetic option on the right for Palace, he has also managed to add goals to his game netting twice so far this season. These goals came late on against Newcastle at home in November to rescue a point and early on against the champions Man City in a 2-2 draw last month. The 28-year-old was unlucky not to get his third of the season against Brighton.
Other honourable mentions include Dean Henderson and Will Hughes. The two appear to be ‘vice captains’ as Hughes captained the side in a 2-1 win against Southampton while Marc Guehi was suspended, and he handed the armband to Henderson when he was subbed off.
Henderson earned his first start for England this season as a testament to his performances at club level where he has helped keep Palace in many games with some terrific shot-stopping.
Hughes adds a sense of hunger and tenacity to the side as he is always willing to get stuck into his duels. He also is often successful when trying to progress the ball and pass it into the final third.
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Young Player of the Season
The young player of the season so far for Palace is the Northern Irish man, Justin Devenny.
The 21-year-old played a crucial part in the 2023/24 season and the opening of the 2024/25 season for the under 21s and has subsequently been rewarded with a first team debut. He started the first 10 games across all competitions captaining the 21s. He has made eight appearances in the Premier League and one in the EFL Cup.
As well as his Premier League debut against Fulham, he has also saw his impressive form noticed by Michael O’Neill and made his Northern Ireland debut against Luxembourg and even scored his first league goal against Aston Villa in November. He is Palace’s first academy product to score in the league since Tyrick Mitchell in 2020/21.
Devenny appears to be versatile as he has played in the left sided ‘10’ position at times as well as in the middle of the park. The midfielder has showed his willingness to get stuck into duels and create chances for his teammates.
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Game of the Season
The Eagles’ game of the season was December’s 3-1 away win against fierce rivals Brighton. This game marked the first time Palace had gotten the better of Brighton since February 2021 and the first with fans in the stadium since February 2020.
Loanee Trevoh Chalobah made the score 1-0 to Palace shortly before the half hour mark as he thumped an effort in from close range following a corner. Ismaila Sarr would then double the lead with a headed attempt after a pinpoint delivery from Tyrick Mitchell into the penalty area.
In the second half Palace would go 3-0 up through Daniel Munoz. But this was ruled out for a foul in the build-up. They would then go 3-0 up again and this time the goal would stand as Eddie Nketiah would header the ball down for Sarr to race past Lewis Dunk and fire into the right side of the goal.
Brighton would then get a consolation through a Guehi own goal. But this was not enough as they fell to their first and only league loss at the Amex all season.
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Signing of the Season
Centre back Maxence Lacroix was bought in for £18 million from VfL Wolfsburg. The defender won back-to-back club Player of the Month awards in October and November as recognition to his form.
Lacroix previously worked with Glasner during his spell at Wolfsburg. Many thought the loss of Joachim Andersen to Fulham would be quite sizeable. However, the Frenchman is capable of similar abilities on the ball as he has played 3.6 accurate long balls per 90 this term.
He has also demonstrated that he is a very fast player competent of making exceptional tackles and recoveries to prevent attacks.
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Where should Palace add depth?
Both left wing-back and right wing-back. Tyrick Mitchell has been the only natural left defender at the disposal of Palace managers since Patrick van Aanholt’s departure in 2021.
Despite being a solid defensive option, Mitchell would benefit from some healthy competition and rest with an option from the left that is more attacking. A right wing-back would not go a miss either with Munoz playing significant minutes and covering lots of distance since his arrival.
Veterans Nathaniel Clyne and Joel Ward are out of contract at the end of the season. Caleb Kporha has made his debut so far this term but still seems quite raw. Danny Imray has enjoyed a good loan spell at Bromley and may look for more loan moves as it would be a big step up to go from a starter in League Two to a Premier League squad player.
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Who has the most to prove?
Eddie Nketiah. Crystal Palace loaned out Odsonne Edouard to Leicester in the summer and required more depth up front.
But Nketiah’s move has not gone to plan so far as he has played most his minutes out of position in the right sided ‘10’ role.
The former Arsenal man has failed to score in the Premier League this season registering one assist against Brighton and two EFL Cup goals against QPR and Arsenal.
While it would require a lot to displace Mateta from the side, many would have expected to see more from the £30 million summer signing.
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Most underwhelming player?
Eberechi Eze has failed to live up to expectations so far. The attacking midfielder has scored ten or more goals in the last two seasons and made eight caps for England.
However, he has not had the brightest start to the season.
Eze has often been found holding onto the ball for a bit too long and misplacing some of his passes. He seems to have lost a spark as when he receives ball, he has slowed down the game at times.
It also appears that he is being marked out of games with often more than one man on him applying pressure.
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One to Watch
Brazilian Matheus Franca. The winger has not made a single appearance this season as he has been troubled with injuries.
However, he has recently returned to training. The 20-year-old arrived in South London in the summer of 2023 and was limited to minutes last term under former manager Roy Hodgson.
He only played 225 minutes in the league. But from the bench he showed signs of promise getting an assist and winning a penalty in Glasner’s first game in charge.
With Nketiah and Daichi Kamada failing to hit the ground running, Franca’s return to the side could be crucial to add some extra depth going forwards.
