Can in-form Mateta break through Arsenal's tight defence?

Football writer Ninad Barbadikar identifies the key players, team tactics and where matches could be won and lost in Matchweek 9.

Player analysis: Jean-Philippe Mateta (Crystal Palace)

After eight Matchweeks, Oliver Glasner’s Crystal Palace sit eighth in the table, with just one defeat so far this season.

Mateta continues to be a force to reckon with under Glasner, having scored five times across those eight matches played.

However, the France international will face one of his toughest tests this season next, as Palace come up againt Premier League leaders Arsenal.

How does Glasner get the best out of Mateta?

Glasner has an impressive track record of bringing the best out of No 9 profiles throughout his career.

Previously in the Bundesliga, he’s brought the best out of the likes of Wout Weghorst and Randal Kolo Muani – Mateta is his next project, which is going excellently.

After scoring during the international break for France and scoring a hat-trick against AFC Bournemouth last time out in the league, it is clear that the Frenchman is in the form of his life.

Glasner’s system has a lot to do with that. Sprinkling creators across midfield and attack to ensure that his No 9 gets the service he needs.

Mateta's improvement under Glasner

Pre-Glasner	Per 90	Under Glasner
80	Matches	58
0.29	Goals	0.66
2.3	Shots	2.6
0.33	xG	0.60
12.6%	Shot conversion	25.6%
4.4	Touches in opp box	3.9

In Palace’s 3-4-2-1 shape, Mateta spearheads the attack as the lone striker but he also serves a more important purpose in making them tick.

With the manager’s focus on being direct and unsettling opposition defences with their numbers going forward, Mateta is often the target of long balls from goalkeeper Dean Henderson as well as the trio of centre-backs, led by Marc Guehi.

From there, the Frenchman’s expert hold-up play is important, using his sizeable frame and deceptive speed to escape markers and break into the opposition penalty area.

Often coming up against teams that press intensely high up the pitch, these long balls, though not always accurate, are enough to neutralise the press and give Palace an opening to create counter-attacks of their own.

Who are the main suppliers?

This is perhaps best exemplified when we look at Glasner’s chief chance creators since the start of last season. Top of that list are both of their regular wing-backs, Daniel Munoz and Tyrick Mitchell who have grown from strength to strength under Glasner, the latter even more so.

Once Mateta receives the ball and wins the first contact, it triggers a sequence of movements where Palace players are rushing forward, with the opposition retreating after a failed high press situation.

In the final third, with the inside forwards busy occupying numbers in the middle, it is Mitchell and Munoz who display huge industrious ability to get to the byline and provide cutback opportunities to the likes of Mateta and others.

They often look to target the six-yard box with low driven crosses, which Palace attackers try to connect with, often three or four players going for it, leaving the opposition at sixes and sevens.

Ismaila Sarr is another constant threat for Palace who has a very strong chemistry with his partner in attack. The Senegalese winger can often act as the foil for aerial duels and allow Mateta to drift in behind into spaces.

He has very much taken the mantle of Wilfried Zaha’s direct role in Palace’s attack, enjoying 1v1 duels and scoring key goals already, including the opener against Liverpool in a 2-1 win at Selhurst Park.

Chances created in open-play (excluding assists) from start of 24/25

Crystal Palace player	Total
Munoz	45
Mitchell	44
Sarr	43
Eze	32
Mateta	28
Wharton	23

Against Bournemouth, Mateta recorded an incredible tally of 11 shots, including a penalty which added up to an Expected Goals (xG) figure of 3.67. At the time of writing, this remains the highest on record in a Premier League match.

The only other player to have accumulated 3+ xG figures in a Premier League match was former Manchester City star Sergio Aguero, who had 3.3 against Tottenham Hotspur in October 2014.

Zooming out further, this season, apart from Palace in that Bournemouth match, only Manchester United have a similar xG figure as a team in a match (3.63xG against Burnley) to Mateta’s 3.67xG as an individual, with Newcastle United the only other team to have registered +3xG in a match this season (3.45xG v Nottingham Forest)

Watch: Mateta's record-breaking xG in a PL match

These numbers and his exceedingly impressive underlying figures paint him out to be the second-best striker in the league, only behind Erling Haaland in that regard.

So far this season, only the Norwegian goal-machine has outshot Mateta, attempting 34 shots compared to the Frenchman’s 28.

Looking at the two strikers’ xG figures, Haaland is the only one who has accumulated more (8.69) than Mateta’s 7.75 after eight games.

The Frenchman’s xG shot map for this season shows most of his shots coming from high-value positions inside the box, a handful of which have been converted to goals as well.

So how do Palace manage to find him in these great positions?

A lot of it is to do with the creators sprinkled across the team as mentioned previously. On top of that, the Frenchman’s own movement and awareness of where crosses are going to arrive, is at a very high level.

His second goal against Bournemouth is perhaps the best situation to illustrate this. Daichi Kamada receives the ball in the left half-spaces and angles himself to play a lob pass to the onrushing Munoz.

At this point, Mateta has already spun in behind Bafode Diakite and the Bournemouth defender is unaware of Mateta’s intention to reach the back-post. He does so well in-time and connects with Munoz’s first-time cutback, to make it 2-2.

Mateta's shot placement map - since start of 24/25

Since the start of last season, Mateta has attempted 98 shots in the Premier League and an astonishing 50 per cent of those have been on target, resulting in 19 goals from an xG figure of 21.3.

Looking at where he places his shots gives us a better indication of how he achieves such great success with his shooting.

The Frenchman often looks to keep it low and hit with power past the 'keeper. He’s rarely going for the top corners, which are harder shots to execute in a repeatable manner. Like any good striker, he’s looking to hit the corners and is getting better and better at it.

How will he fare against Arsenal?

After facing a few difficult sides already this season, Glasner and Mateta’s biggest test comes against Arsenal.

The French striker has played against the Gunners in six competitive matches and scored thrice in that time, including a memorable chipped effort past David Raya to grab the deciding equaliser in a 2-2 draw at Emirates Stadium last season.

Against Gabriel and William Saliba, he will have his hands full. But so will they. In his most recent start against the Gunners in a 5-1 defeat at home, Mateta did well in his physical match-ups against the duo. However, Arteta’s side showed too much strength in attack on the day for Palace to do anything about it.

This season, they’ve conceded the fewest goals (three) and 10 fewer shots (65) than the next best defence in Newcastle, with 75.

The Gunners have also been supreme at set-piece defending, conceding just 18 attempts. This will be especially relevant against Palace, who are second for shots generated from set-piece situations.

It promises to be an exciting affair with Mateta at the top of his game, testing his luck against the team at the top of the table.

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