Fantasy Premier League

ICT Analysis: Zaha influence on the rise

17 Feb 2019
Wilfried Zaha, CRYWHU cele

The Scout says the return of Christian Benteke has raised the Crystal Palace winger’s potential in Fantasy

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The Scout runs the rule over players ranked highly over the last four Gameweeks in the ICT Index.

The Index helps Fantasy Premier League managers look beyond points to determine players' values as FPL assets through their Influence, Creativity and Threat.

Wilfried Zaha (£6.7m)

The influence of the Crystal Palace winger on the Eagles' attack has markedly improved in recent matches.

Top FWD for ICT Creativity (GW23-26)
Player ICT creativity Chances created Big chances created Assists
Jimenez 128 9 4 1
Zaha 116 9 1 1
Firmino 105 7 2 1
King 100 7 3 1
Mitrovic 90 7 2 1
Creative burst

Zaha created nine scoring chances for his team-mates over the last four Gameweeks, joint-top with Raul Jimenez (£6.8m) among FPL forwards.

That return is all the more impressive considering that Zaha featured in only three fixtures during that period.

 

He has clearly upped his creative output lately.

Zaha has created a chance every 30 minutes across Gameweeks 23-26.

This is more than twice the rate of his average of 61 minutes over the first 22 Gameweeks.

Scoring again

It’s not just his creativity that has caught the eye. 

Zaha has scored in each of his last two appearances, finding the net against Southampton and West Ham United.

Again, his underlying statistics point to these returns being a reward for an improvement.

Zaha’s shots inside the box have risen from 1.6 to 2.3 per match over the last four Gameweeks. And his shots on target have almost doubled, from 0.7 to 1.3.

Benteke boost

Crucially for Palace manager Roy Hodgson, the return of Christian Benteke (£6.7m) from injury can help Zaha extend his recent form.

Benteke started alongside Zaha for only the fourth match this season in their Gameweek 26 draw with West Ham.

Zaha’s goal in that match was his third in four matches with Benteke also on the teamsheet.

Without Benteke, he has scored just two goals in 18 appearances.

Appearing in only 10.7 per cent of FPL squads, Zaha can be a major differential for managers as the Eagles look to secure their top-flight safety.

Also in this series

Part 1: ICT Analysis: Unbeatable value given by Etheridge
Part 2: ICT Analysis: Van Aanholt creativity on the rise
Part 3: ICT Analysis: Chambers offers cut-price solution
Part 4: ICT Analysis: Gross can profit from run-in
Part 5: ICT Analysis: Mane goal threat growing
Part 7: ICT Analysis: Barnes rivalling Aguero

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