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Crystal Palace will once again be without talisman Wilfred Zaha for the visit of Sean Dyche’s Burnley tomorrow but what can the Eagles do to sort their record out when their main man is out unavailable?
Roy Hodgson’s men have really struggled when the 28-year-old has been absent in recent times, losing 17 of their last 19 Premier League matches – including the 2-0 defeat at Elland Road against Leeds United on Monday evening.
Palace are in a comfortable position in the table on 29 points after 23 games but will be keen to stop a poor run of form even with Zaha in the side, having only won twice in the last seven in all competitions.
Every side have important players who they rely on, but Palace simply have to find a way to start picking up more consistent results when the Ivory Coast international is on the sidelines.
Jean-Phillipe Mateta replaced the 28-year-old in the side for the defeat at Leeds but Hodgson’s team still only managed to muster three shots on target in the game and lacked a real threat on the pitch.
The South London club will hope that Mateta can fill the void left by Zaha against a stubborn Burnley side who have only conceded 29 times this term – the second fewest in the bottom half of the table, a feat that can only be bettered by Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal.
There hasn’t been a set return date confirmed by the club on when Zaha is likely to return but due to it being a hamstring problem, you would think he isn’t going to be back very imminently so the Eagles really do need to find a way of being more productive without him and it all starts this weekend against Burnley.
Defender Tyrick Mitchell told the London Evening Standard after the defeat to Leeds that he believes there is enough quality in the squad to get results without Zaha in the side.
“Of course he is a big player, one of our best players so it will always be difficult without him.
But we have good enough players to step in when he’s not there.
“We had a strong enough team on the pitch and a good bench. It was just a disappointing performance.”
Zaha has been as important as ever when he has played for Palace in the league this season, scoring nine times, while also applying two assists in the 20 games he has featured in which is five more goal involvements than the next best at the club, summer signing from QPR, Eberechi Eze.
He is still young but is a player built very much in the mould of Zaha and will be a key player in trying to ensure that the club can grind out results in the former Manchester United man’s absence.
Jordan Ayew is another alternative to help change Palace’s fortunes but he really found life tough when given a rare start at Elland Road on Monday so even though Hodgson’s men face a team placed in 17th, it’s hard to see just how they will be able to stop the rot without Zaha.
Andros Townsend, Christian Benteke and Michy Batshuayi were all brought on in the defeat at Leeds but all lacked real quality in a side which desperately missed any sort of spark and struggled to break through all evening.
This will continue to be the case for Palace until they can win more regularly without their talisman because teams know that an Eagles side without him is a much easier proposition.
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