The Premier League 2023-24 season has turned out to be one of the most exciting ones. The battle for the championship is set to go until the last game week. Manchester City and Arsenal are the two favourites to become the champions of England. As for the relegation battle is concerned, the teams that were promoted could be on their way to the Championship.
Crystal Palace were another team sitting just above the relegation zone. The London-based club replaced veteran manager Roy Hodgson with Oliver Galsner. This changed the fate of the club. Palace are one of the most impressive teams in the league as per their current form. One of the biggest reasons behind this success is the form of Palace’s 26-year-old forward, Jean-Philippe Mateta.
Ever since joining the club, Mateta has failed to show consistency. He has failed to score regular goals and never got into the limelight. Since Galsner’s appointment, things have completely changed in favour of the Frenchman. Let’s take a look at how Jean-Philippe Mateta is performing lately.
Most successful season in England
Mateta has played in the Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga. His best-scoring league season in the top division came in 2018-19. Mateta scored 14 goals for Bundesliga side, Mainz. Before the start of the current season, Mateta only scored eight times in 58 games.
This season, the forward already has 11 goals to his name. This is his best season in a Palace shirt. The forward averages 1.6 shots per 90 minutes and has a high accuracy rate of 60%. All goals have been scored from inside the penalty box.
This plot assesses the striker’s ability to challenge and win aerial duels, which is essential for hold-up play and scoring from headers. Jean Mateta is a strong figure in the air. He is highly rated for winning aerial duels. This makes him a target-man. With the likes of Eze and Olise in the team, Mateta only needs some good deliveries inside the box to score a goal.
Jean-Philippe Mateta under Galsner
Since the appointment of the new manager, we have witnessed a new Mateta. He is scoring more freely and carrying his team forward.
After scoring against Burnley in Galsner’s first game, Jean-Philippe Mateta has scored seven in the last eight games. The Frenchman has eight goals in the last nine matches from 21 shots attempted. The accuracy rate has massively improved to 66.67%. Mateta is getting more balls into dangerous areas and he is not missing any chance to score.
Jean-Philippe Mateta has scored a brace each in the last two games. He has a chance to break his own record and score more goal for Crystal Palace in the remaining games of the season.
Visuals via TFA data viz engine