The Scout is identifying players who could improve on last season's displays and have an even bigger impact when 2024/25 Fantasy Premier League begins.
Jean-Philippe Mateta (Crystal Palace) £7.5m
Oliver Glasner’s arrival as head coach of Crystal Palace helped transform the fortunes of Mateta in Fantasy.
The forward struggled to secure a regular role under Roy Hodgson, starting only 11 of the Eagles’ first 24 matches last season and appearing as a substitute on 10 further occasions.
Mateta scored just three goals and supplied four assists across the first 24 Gameweeks, tallying only 60 points.
But Glasner’s appointment in Gameweek 25, combined with a change in tactics to 3-4-2-1, turned Mateta into one of the Premier League’s most-prolific players.
He started all 14 of Palace's matches under the Austrian, producing 13 goals and three assists to collect 105 points. Indeed, those 16 goal involvements and 105 points were both more than any other forward over the final 14 Gameweeks of 2023/24 Fantasy.
Essentially, then, Mateta averaged 7.5 points per match (ppm) under Glasner, more than double his mere 2.9ppm while Hodgson was in charge.
Mateta’s Fantasy output 23/24
| Under Hodgson (GW1-24) |
Under Glasner (GW25-38) | |
| Apps | 21 | 14 |
| Goals | 3 | 13 |
| Assists | 4 | 3 |
| Points | 60 | 105 |
| Pts/match | 2.9 | 7.5 |
What do the underlying statistics tell us?
The huge jump in gilt-edged scoring opportunities help to show why Mateta was such a success under Glasner.
He was supplied with a mere three big chances under Hodgson across the opening 24 Gameweeks.
But with Glasner at the helm, the Frenchman had 18 big chances – SIX TIMES the previous amount – despite his minutes being near-identical across both periods.
Not only was that a team-leading total, it placed Mateta third among all forwards over the final 14 Gameweeks of the campaign.
His 29 shots in the box and 18 shots on target were also more than any other Eagles player, with the latter tally TWICE his total of nine beforehand.
Due to Mateta’s superior quality of scoring opportunities, he was involved in 59 per cent of Palace's goals under Glasner, up from 37 per cent under Hodgson.
Mateta’s goal threat 23/24
| Statistic | Under Hodgson (GW1-24) | Under Glasner (GW25-38) |
|---|---|---|
| Minutes | 1,155 | 1,127 |
| Shots | 17 | 29 |
| Shots in box | 16 | 29 |
| Shots on target | 9 | 18 |
| Big chances | 3 | 18 |
| Goal involvement | 37% | 59% |
How does he compare with other forwards?
The graphic below shows that Mateta was the most reliable forward in Fantasy after Glasner took the helm.
Looking from left to right across the graphic, you can see he produced an attacking return (a goal or assist) in 71.4 per cent of his appearances.
His nearest rivals for consistency were Erling Haaland (£8.5m) and Alexander Isak, who both had an attacking return in 61.5 per cent of their appearances.
The graphic highlights that only five forwards enjoyed a success rate of 50 per cent or better from Gameweek 25 onwards, with Ollie Watkins and Nicolas Jackson also included in the assessment.
Mateta v other FPL forwards, GW25-38
Rotate your mobile device to see graphic full-screen
Meanwhile, looking at the graphic from top to bottom shows how many points Mateta scored on average in the matches where he got at least one attacking return.
It shows how reliable Mateta was for also delivering big scores in Fantasy, because he collected 97 points in those 10 contests, an average of 9.7ppm.
That was only bettered by Isak, who averaged 10.4ppm across his eight successful outings, and Watkins, who averaged 9.9 points over the seven matches that he either scored or assisted in. But Watkins was far less consistent, blanking in six of his 13 outings.
Most-consistent forwards, GW25-38
| Player | Matches | Succ. matches | Succ. rate | Pts/succ. match |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mateta | 14 | 10 | 71.4% | 9.7 |
| Isak | 13 | 8 | 61.5% | 10.4 |
| Haaland | 13 | 8 | 61.5% | 9.5 |
| Watkins | 13 | 7 | 53.8% | 9.9 |
| Jackson | 14 | 7 | 50% | 8.6 |
The huge turnaround in output under Glasner indicates Mateta can push on next season and surpass his total of 165 points.
His consistent potential for big returns suggests the Palace star could be a key figure in managers’ forward lines when the 2024/25 campaign gets under way.