The Scout explains why managers should invest in Crystal Palace for their kind upcoming fixtures in Fantasy Premier League, and picks out their best players in attack and defence.
Palace have had a tricky start to the season in terms of their Premier League fixture schedule, having already faced Chelsea, Aston Villa, Sunderland, Liverpool, AFC Bournemouth and Arsenal, who all sit in the top nine places.
But that is now about to change.
Oliver Glasner's side have three home matches in the next four Gameweeks, against Brentford, Brighton & Hove Albion and Manchester United, while their next three away trips are all against sides in the bottom five places - Wolverhampton Wanderers, Burnley and Fulham.
According to the Fixture Difficulty Ratings (FDR), where the difficulty of each fixture is ranked from one to five - with one being the easiest possible match and five being the hardest - NONE of Palace's next six matches scores more than three.
Palace's next six matches
| GW | Opp. | FDR* |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | Brentford (H) | 3 |
| 11 | Brighton (H) | 3 |
| 12 | Wolves (A) | 3 |
| 13 | Man Utd (H) | 3 |
| 14 | Burnley (A) | 2 |
| 15 | Fulham (A) | 3 |
*1=easiest possible match, 5=hardest possible match
As a result, Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.7m) is the most-bought forward in Gameweek 10 ahead of Saturday's 13:30 GMT deadline, and the second most-bought player across all positions, with more than 360,000 new owners bringing him in.
Notably, Mateta scored a hat-trick in his last home match against Bournemouth to collect his season-high haul of 17 points in Gameweek 8, suggesting he could even rival Erling Haaland (£14.7m) for the captaincy right now.
But Mateta isn't the only Palace player who warrants attention. In fact, his total of 39 points only puts him FIFTH among their best performers over the first nine Gameweeks.
Instead, as you can see in the table below, it's the Eagles' defenders who have made the biggest impact, with Marc Guehi (£4.9m), Daniel Munoz (£5.7m) and Maxence Lacroix (£5.0m) being their top-scoring players.
Guehi's 54 points earn him joint-fourth place among defenders in Fantasy, level with Arsenal's Riccardo Calafiori (£5.8m). This is despite the fact that Palace have only kept three clean sheets, half the six of the Gunners, partly due to their tough early schedule.
Instead, Guehi has supplemented his trio of shutouts with a goal, three assists, eight defensive contribution points and three bonus points. Due to those multiple routes to returns, the centre-back has been one of the most consistent players in 2025/26, blanking in just ONE of his first nine outings.
Wing-back Munoz ranks seventh among defenders on 48 points, also producing a goal and three assists, while Lacroix's 10 extra points for his defensive contributions have played a big part in his success.
The table below also shows that midfielder Ismaila Sarr (£6.5m) is another Palace asset who has proven more reliable than Mateta early on, with just three blanks compared with the forward's six.
Indeed, in terms of points per start (pps), Sarr has averaged 5.7 over his seven appearances, second only to Guehi's 6.0pps. Sarr's appeal has only been strengthened by his two goals against Liverpool in the EFL Cup on Wednesday.
Palace's top-scoring players, GW1-9
| Player | Goals + assists | Clean sheets* | Blanks | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guehi | 4 | 3 | 1 | 54 |
| Munoz | 4 | 3 | 3 | 48 |
| Lacroix | 1 | 3 | 2 | 42 |
| Sarr | 4 | 3 | 3 | 40 |
| Mateta | 5 | N/A | 6 | 39 |
| Mitchell | 1 | 3 | 4 | 38 |
| Richards | 0 | 3 | 2 | 38 |
*Defenders earn four points for a clean sheet, midfielders earn one point. Scroll across on mobile to see the full table
Who are the best Palace attackers?
For the purposes of this article, we're going to break it into two sections - the best attackers and the best defenders.
Palace's potential for goals is underlined by their huge number of big chances (BC), which are situations where a player is expected to score.
Despite their tough run of opponents so far, the Eagles have had a total of 33 big chances, more than any other side over the first nine Gameweeks. Clearly, then, their attack is worth investing in for those favourable matches ahead.
As the table below shows, it's all about Mateta. His 15 big chances are at least THREE TIMES the total of any team-mate, with Sarr his nearest rival on five.
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Mateta has also created one big chance, giving him a total of 16 big-chance involvements - more than twice the tally of any other Palace player.
Palace players' big-chance involvement
| Player | BC | BC created | BC inv. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mateta | 15 | 1 | 16 |
| Sarr | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| Guehi, Pino | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| Wharton | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| Munoz | 1 | 3 | 4 |
Scroll across on mobile to see the full table
The numbers are so one-sided that it makes the decision an easy one - as the focal point of the league's No 1 side for big chances, Mateta is clearly the best Palace attacker to buy.
But that doesn't necessarily rule Sarr out of contention, and the Senegalese winger merits more attention here.
Rather than compare him with Mateta, Sarr's numbers should be looked at against all other midfielders in Fantasy.
Listed below are the 13 who have been involved in a minimum of six big chances in the first nine Gameweeks of 20252/6.
Notably, both Sarr and summer signing Yeremy Pino (£5.8m) rank among the top five in terms of minutes per big-chance involvement.
Sarr's average of 86.6 minutes per big-chance involvement is near-identical to the 86.0 of Man Utd's Bryan Mbeumo (£8.2m), who is the most-bought player for Gameweek 10.
See: Is it time to buy Mbeumo?
It's also markedly faster than the 115.7 of Bournemouth's Antoine Semenyo (£8.1m), who is both the top-scoring and most-selected midfielder in Fantasy.
Pino's 71.8 minutes per big-chance involvement is the second-fastest, although his pitch-time is still being managed since he arrived in the summer as a replacement for Eberechi Eze (£7.6m) in Glasner's 3-4-2-1 set-up, and he remains a risk at present.
Midfielders with minimum six big-chance involvements
| Player | BC | BC created | BC inv. | Mins per BC inv. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dango | 7 | 2 | 9 | 55.1 |
| Pino | 3 | 3 | 6 | 71.8 |
| Salah | 6 | 5 | 11 | 72.9 |
| Mbuemo | 6 | 3 | 9 | 86.0 |
| Sarr | 5 | 2 | 7 | 86.6 |
| Enzo | 6 | 2 | 8 | 88.4 |
| Fernandes | 5 | 3 | 8 | 99.5 |
| Gakpo | 3 | 5 | 8 | 88.1 |
| Doku | 3 | 3 | 6 | 81.8 |
| Grealish | 3 | 3 | 6 | 109.0 |
| Semenyo | 7 | 0 | 7 | 115.7 |
| Rice | 2 | 4 | 6 | 118.8 |
| Schade | 3 | 3 | 6 | 122.8 |
Scroll across on mobile to see the full table
Who are the best Palace defenders?
In a season where Arsenal's huge threat from set-pieces has been headline news, Palace's own potential from free-kicks and corners has been somewhat overlooked.
Their total of 44 shots from set-pieces places third this season. Although Glasner's side have yet to fully profit, scoring four goals in these situations compared with the Gunners' nine.
A breakdown of the attacking potential on offer from the Eagles' back five helps to highlight the differences in Guehi and Munoz's prospects.
Guehi is by far the most threatening Palace defender at set-pieces, producing six headed shots - at least twice the total of any of his team-mates in the table below. Added to his total of eight shots, Guehi has also created six chances, which means he has been involved in 14 shots this season.
But Munoz is one of the best defenders for goal threat from open play, with his 11 shots and 10 shots in the box both ranking joint-second in his position in Fantasy. Added to his six chances created, he's Palace's leading defender for shot involvement, with a total of 17.
His fellow wing-back Tyrick Mitchell (£5.0m) leads the way for chances created, with eight and has been involved in 13 shots, matching the combined total of Lacroix and Richards.
Palace defenders with biggest attacking threat
| Player | Shots in box | Headed shots at set-pieces | Chances created | Shot inv. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Munoz | 10 | 1 | 6 | 17 |
| Guehi | 8 | 6 | 6 | 14 |
| Mitchell | 4 | 0 | 8 | 13 |
| Richards | 4 | 3 | 3 | 7 |
| Lacroix | 3 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
Scroll across on mobile to see the full table
There's no surprise to learn that it's the three Palace centre-backs who have profited the most from the new defensive contribution points.
Lacroix and Richards have somewhat atoned for their lack of attacking threat by getting 10 extra points each from defensive contributions (DC). They have achieved this in five of their nine outings, which equates to a 55.6 per cent success rate.
Guehi's eight extra points are the equivalent of two more clean sheets, highlighting why he's been able to claw back some of the deficit on Arsenal's top performers at the back.
Palace defenders with most defensive contribution points
| Player | No. of starts with DC pts | % success | DC pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lacroix, Richards | 5/9 | 55.6% | 10 |
| Guehi | 4/9 | 44.4% | 8 |
| Munoz | 3/9 | 33.3% | 6 |
| Mitchell | 2/9 | 22.2% | 4 |
Scroll across on mobile to see the full table
So, who are the best Crystal Palace players to own?
Mateta is Palace's biggest goal threat by far and is their one must-have for the upcoming spell.
While Sarr is far from essential, his numbers relative to other midfielders suggest that, with an ownership of just eight per cent, he can be a great differential pick as a double-up alongside Mateta in Palace's impressive attack.
At the back, it's between Guehi and Munoz and both have very valid cases for consideration.
Guehi is clearly the most reliable of the two and has the advantage of set-piece threat, yet the open-play goal threat that Munoz has shown so far this season is all the more impressive when you factor in the calibre of his previous opponents. With an easier run now ahead, the Colombian could have a big impact in the next few fixtures.