Even if you watch every minute of every game, there will still be information that escapes you. Here, we have a deeper dig into the Eagles’ stats for the season – and we discover that the old adage is right – it’s the numbers that tell us the real truth about football!
COMPARING 2021/22 WITH 2020/21
Expectations as 2021/22 began were low. This was very much a season of transition with a new manager, new players and dire predictions – which makes all of the positive improvements listed below all the more remarkable. And we cheer loudly for all that was achieved by Patrick Vieira, his backroom team and the team on the pitch.
Results
Points Won – UP by 4 from 44 to 48
Position – UP 2 from 14th to 12th
Matches Lost – DOWN by 6 from 18 to 12
Performance Against “Big Six” Clubs – UP by 8 points from 6 to 14
Attacking
Goals Scored – UP by 9 from 41 to 50
Players scoring more than 4 goals – UP from 3 to 6
Matches Where Palace Scored At Least One Goal – UP by 3 from 24 to 27
Fouled By Opponents – UP by 57 from 509 to 566 – 2nd Highest in Premier League (only Villa players were fouled more)
Defending
Goals Conceded – DOWN by 20 from 66 to 46 – only bettered by Wolves, Spurs, Liverpool, Man City & Chelsea
Clean Sheets – UP by 4 from 8 to 12 – only bettered by Arsenal, Spurs, Liverpool, Man City & Chelsea
Consecutive Clean Sheets at Home – 5 (in the last 5 home games)
Overview
Squad Average Age – DOWN by 2.0 years from 29.1 to 27.1
Player Wage Bill – DOWN by 13m annually
Happy Days – 334 – since Patrick Vieira became Manager of Crystal Palace on 4.7.21
IN NINE YEARS SINCE PROMOTION
Are we improving as we go along? This was Palace’s 9th season back in the Premier League, so it’s interesting to see how 2021/22 performance stacks up against all of the other seasons going back to 2013/14.
Results
2nd Highest Position – 12th
2nd Most Points – 48
Fewest Games Lost – 12
Most Points At Home – 29
Positive Goal Difference – PLUS 4 – 1st time positive in 9 years
Performance Against “Big Six” Clubs – Best Ever 14 points from 12 matches (average across previous 8 seasons was 7.4 points from 12 games)
2nd best FA Cup Run – Semi Final
Attacking
2nd Highest Goals Scored – 50
Fewest Times Failed to Score – 11
2nd Top Goal Scorer – Zaha 14 (only surpassed by Benteke with 15 in 2016/17)
Defending
Fewest Goals Conceded – 46
Most Clean Sheets – 12
Most Clean Sheets at Home – 8
FIVE CAPTAINS
In 38 Premier League games, Palace selected 5 different players to be captain. Of course, Luka Milivojevic had a very difficult season starting with the effects he felt from the death of his father, but it is noticeable that when he led the team, the results were very different than for each of the other 3 captains who led the team for more than 6 matches:
WARD – 11 games (average points earned per game: 1.45)
MCARTHUR – 10 games (average points earned per game: 1.50)
MILIVOJEVIC – 9 games (average points earned per game: 0.77)
GUEHI – 7 games (average points earned per game: 1.42)
ZAHA – 1 game (average points earned per game: 0.00)
CONCLUSION
Given the uncertainty and the upheaval that characterised last summer, the stats revealed for results, attacking play and defending are strong testimony that Palace are moving in the right direction. When the time comes to reveal the 2022/23 numbers, let’s all hope the story is one of progress sustained!
