STATS: Crystal Palace vs Norwich

Crystal Palace vs Norwich City 15:00

Crystal Palace held on resolutely on what would have looked like a tough trip to Manchester City last weekend and acquitted themselves well at the Etihad. However, the attacking form of their opponents eventually ran true and they fell to a 1-0 defeat.

The Eagles look to be finding their feet this season after a turbulent start to their campaign back in the top flight with several players in particular putting their hands up in their bid for survival. Joel Ward has been one of these players, attempting more tackles than any other Palace player, and any other Englishman, in the league with 80, winning a sterling 77.5% of them.

As discussed on numerous occasions already this season, Mile Jedinak has been at the heart of everything good about Crystal Palace’s campaign so far. The Australian has been a powerhouse in the centre of midfield and has been setting the example as captain of the Eagles squad. According to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index, Jedinak is also the highest ranked midfielder in the league for defensive contributions this season, completing a superb 217 (blocks, interceptions, clearances, tackles won) in total.

Marouane Chamakh’s statistics suggest that he has become one of the most consistent performers for Palace this season despite the criticism that is often levelled at him. Only Mile Jedinak has completed more passes in the opponent’s half in the Palace squad, with the Moroccan racking up an impressive 263 at an average rate of one every 4.92 minutes.

Norwich saw a host of first half chances go by last time out against Manchester Utd as they were unable to see off the visitors and eventually went down 1-0 at Carrow Road.

No player in the league made more effective use of their chances in front of goal last time out than Johan Elmander. The Swede had three attempts on goal, all of which were on target which suggests that, along with help from the likes of Gary Hooper, there is certainly goals in this Norwich side if they get their tails up.

Robert Snodgrass has proved himself to be extremely capable going forward during his Canaries career, yet against Manchester Utd he was perhaps a little over exuberant in his defensive work. The Scottish midfielder lost 5 tackles against Utd, the most of any player in the league during the last round according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index.

Leroy Fer continues to impress this season, already leading the Norwich squad in a number of statistics. The Dutchman has racked up more attacking contributions (assists, dribbles, shots on goal, crosses) than any other Canaries player so far this term, with 45 to his name.