Mateta v Nketiah: Does Nketiah have what it takes to star at Selhurst Park?
Blogs

Mateta v Nketiah: Does Nketiah have what it takes to star at Selhurst Park?

Mateta v Nketiah: Does Nketiah have what it takes to star at Selhurst Park?

Crystal Palace forward, Jean-Phillipe Mateta was kicked in the head by Millwall goalkeeper Liam Roberts when he ran out to attempt to clear the ball in The Eagles’ 3-1 victory in the FA Cup in early March. Mateta has been an instrumental figure in the Palace frontline this season, notching up a tidy 12 goals from 27 Premier League appearances; his injury inflicting a critical blow for Oliver Glasner’s side.

However, Palace fans breathed a huge sigh of relief after Mateta was discharged from hospital later the same day. And with the international break falling at a perfect time for them, this means Mateta should be back for their crucial FA Cup Quarter-final against Fulham at Selhurst Park. Victory against The Cottagers would mean their first trip to Wembley since their most recent FA Cup Final versus Manchester United, in 2016.

Mateta’s current form means recent signing from Arsenal, Eddie Nketiah does not get a look at the starting striker spot and this article will be drawing comparisons between the pair, ultimately deciding whether Nketiah will be able to make a name for himself at the club or if his future will be elsewhere.

Current Situations

After purchasing Eddie Nketiah for a fee in the region of £30m in August 2024, he has struggled to make his mark since joining from The Gunners. The 25-year-old has scored just one goal from seven top-flight starts this campaign in comparison to Mateta’s much more stable tally of 12 from 25 starts as he is currently a firm first choice to lead the line.

Since Nketiah’s arrival, the pair did rival for the sole striker position in Glasner’s 3-4-2-1 system with two supporting tens filled predominantly by Eberechi Eze and Ismaila Sarr. Nketiah did briefly hold the striker spot before the Frenchman found some goal scoring form eventually cementing himself in the forward role from November onwards.

Stats Comparison

This is the first season Mateta has been under the leadership of Glasner, who has improved his game immensely, however we also saw a glimpse of this after Glasner took over in the back-end of last season. According to Premier League stats, the Frenchman improved his goal involvement from 37% to 59% in the final 14 matches last seasons- and incredibly 71% of games he played during that time he made an attacking return for his side. He was by far the most influential forward in this time, having goal involvements in more games than the likes of Alexander Isak and Erling Haaland.

Since becoming first-choice, Mateta has made the position his own, amassing eight of his 12 Premier League goals after the turn of the year, in just a seven-match period.

As per footystats, Mateta places in the top 94th percentile when it comes to expected goals (xG), outperforming this metric by 0.87 and he supports it with being in the top 91st percentile for shot conversion rate with 29.27% which shows he will find the net three times for every ten attempted shots. In comparison, Nketiah struggles with an xG of 2.31- meaning he massively underperforms in this metric considering he has only scored once. This gives him a shot conversion rate of just 5%, evidently proving how much of a loss Mateta is when he gets injured.

Take all this with a pinch of salt however, as it is worth noting that since Mateta became first choice in November, he has very rarely been substituted. Nketiah has come off the bench on 13 occasions so far this term; a majority of these have been replacing either Eze or Sarr, who tend to create the scoring chances for Mateta in the attacking third.

Although, despite this Nketiah is still able to manoeuvre himself into positions to be able to take more shots per game than Mateta. As he takes just 1.64 shots per game started compared to Nketiah’s 2.85 per game started showing just how clinical Mateta is. All of this despite only averaging 35 minutes played per match- under half of the average minutes to Mateta.

So, it therefore could be argued that Nketiah is not getting a good enough opportunity to prove himself in his natural position. However, you can not argue with Mateta’s attacking output which has put The Eagles in such a comfortable position once more in the top division.

Playstyles

As mentioned previously, Nketiah takes more shots per 90 than Mateta, however as we have come to understand, it does not mean that goals will follow. Many analysts compare Mateta’s style of play with that of Nottingham Forest’s Chris Wood and you can see similarities between the two. Both have perfect positioning in the attacking third and rely on their supportive wide men- in Crystal Palace’s case Eze and Sarr on playing pinpoint through balls through to Mateta who has the ability to, like Wood, use his strong physique, to get into a position to finish which have all been crucial to The Eagles’ success this season.

Eze has assisted five of Mateta’s 12 goals this campaign and as per footystats Sarr averages 1.53 key passes per game which shows the quality of wingers Mateta has either side of him. This has allowed him to be in the best form of his career since his £12.9m move from Mainz in 2022.

Both players are considered to possess strong finishing attributes, also making them crucial to the counter attacking system Glasner likes to set. Nketiah tends to enjoy being involved in the play more as he looks to help his side string passes together to set up a hasty transition into the final third.

He can also be a threat on or off the ball, positioning himself in the optimal spot for a quick pass or with the speed he obtains, he can breeze past defenders overall making him a handful for any team.

Can Nketiah Prove Himself?

Overall, Nketiah is definitely a very solid option to have in Glasner’s arsenal however, Palace have mainly been getting impressive results by thin margins- often by just one goal. With Mateta’s strong conversion rate of 29.27% comparing to Nketiah’s poor rate of just 5% it implies that The Eagles may suffer if Mateta was to suffer from a long-term injury meaning the rest of the team will have to play their hand in improving their attacking output in order to match that of Mateta.

However, they do both offer different qualities which improve the team so Nketiah will still be very useful. Nketiah definitely has the capability to star for Palace, however fans will have to realise that he may not match the attacking output Mateta produces.

Benji Kosartiyer
Journalist
Ben Growdon

Content Writer

Videos
See more
From Non-League to the AFCON Final - The Story of Kwesi Appiah
Listen to our full podcast with Kwesi Appiah as he discusses his sensational rise from non-league all the way to starting in the AFCON final.
Is it time for Luton Town to make THE DECISION?!
Watch out latest edition of EFL Hot Takes as the lads give their opinion on the Rob Edwards situation at Luton Town.
WHO is in our Championship TEAM OF THE SEASON so far?!
Find out how we would put in our Championship Team of the Season so far on YouTube as we approach the busy period.

Join our newsletter

Become a part of our community and never miss an update from Football Park.