Analysis: Guehi at the centre of Palace's top-four charge

Football writer Adrian Clarke identifies the key players, team tactics and where matches could be won and lost in Matchweek 16.

Player analysis: Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace)

Ahead of Manchester City’s visit this weekend, Palace find themselves in the top four, boasting the second-best defensive record in the Premier League.

Collectively they have been outstanding, continuing their steady improvement under the intelligent stewardship of Oliver Glasner. 

Captain Guehi is the rock who holds the team together though, and has a huge influence on this Palace side.

He is a calm, smart, and physically dominant centre-back, who very rarely makes a mistake.

Guehi, who is right-footed, is extremely comfortable playing on the left of a three-man defence.

It is little wonder Glasner told a press conference last week how relieved he was Palace decided not to sell Guehi to Liverpool in last summer’s transfer window.

Glasner said, “With Marc Guehi everybody said I threatened to step back, completely wrong. I just said, if you sell Marc Guehi and we don’t have the right replacement, we could struggle.”

Those words reflect the feelings among the Palace fan base too.

And his numbers in those all-important duels are among the very best in the Premier League this season, ranking inside the top five among all the defenders.

Leading PL defenders for duels and aerial duels 25/26

*Min 50 duels won
** Min 40 aerial duels won

Guehi is a relatively unassuming presence on the pitch. He does not always stand out in an obvious manner, but his defensive acumen and reading of the game make an incredible difference.

This example below, from Palace's 2-1 success against Liverpool, showcases the England international’s value.

Initially as defending champions Liverpool switched the ball to Dominik Szoboszlai, Guehi was two or three yards behind Mohamed Salah having to sprint across the box.

But quickly alert to the danger, and using his pace to make up ground, Guehi’s determination to thwart Salah was rewarded with a timely intervention.

These scenarios are seen week in, week out by Eagles supporters.

Locking down the left

Premier League rivals do not get a lot of joy when attacking down Palace’s left-hand side.

Guehi and wing-back Tyrick Mitchell are both incredibly reliable defenders who love to get tight to forwards, denying them space to weave their magic.

They are often best avoided.

This flank attacks graphic (below) shows how opponents target the opposite side of the pitch more often, with 40 per cent of raids against them stemming from the left flank.

When you analyse the shots Palace have faced this season, it is also clear that far fewer chances come down the side occupied by Guehi and Mitchell.

Very few shots on target (blue) feature on the left side of the penalty box as Palace are defending, compared to the right.

That is largely down to the excellent defensive work from Guehi, assisted by Mitchell.

A settled defence

One of the main reasons why Palace have only conceded six open-play goals across their 15 Premier League matches, is the consistency of Glasner’s selection.

The Austrian has lost right-wing-back Daniel Munoz to injury until the New Year, but that aside, his defenders have almost always been fit and available since August.

Glasner has only once altered the personnel in his back three – when Guehi missed the Brighton & Hove Albion match through injury – using the same unit in 93.3 per cent of their games.

Indeed, the only central defensive partnership to have played more times together is Liverpool’s pairing of Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk.

Most common centre-back partnerships in PL 25/26

In general, Glasner likes to keep changes to a bare minimum, making just 14 to his starting XI so far this season, the lowest of all managers.

Chelsea (46) have made the most changes, with Manchester City way ahead of Palace on 30 alterations in 2025/26.

Guehi gets forward to good effect

Man City must also be wary of Guehi’s input inside the final third on Sunday.

No top-flight centre-back has been directly involved in more goals than his two goals and two assists this season.

Most goals and assists combined by PL defenders 25/26

Guehi's main threat is attacking corners or wide free-kicks in the air, as shown last time out when netting a late winner at Fulham.

It was a goal which sent Palace into the top four.

WATCH: Guehi's late winner v Fulham 

Guehi is also comfortable driving forward with the ball when space appears in front of him.

In those situations, Guehi’s right foot has proved to be a real weapon.

He picked out Munoz with this classy inswinging cross at Burnley for the winner, as shown below.

WATCH: Guehi's assist for Munoz's goal 

Palace’s captain also scored one of the goals of the season, in a resounding 3-0 win at Aston Villa, picking out the top corner with a stunning strike.

WATCH: Guehi's stunning strike against Aston Villa

Taking on Haaland

Man City and the Premier League's leading marksman Erling Haaland has scored five goals in four appearances against Palace when Guehi has started in the same match.

It is a strong record, and in Haaland's only blank - during last season’s FA Cup Final - Guehi was forced off injured early on.

They may not always be in close proximity at Selhurst Park, with Maxence Lacroix more likely to take responsibility for Haaland down the middle.

But there is no doubt this encounter pits two of the very best around at what they do.

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