Crystal Palace travel to Brighton and Hove Albion tonight hoping that Wilfried Zaha will lead them to successive Premier League victories.
The phrase ‘one-man team’ is thrown around far too often in football. But for all those claiming that Crystal Palace’s chances of success or failure rest squarely on the shoulders of Wilfried Zaha, the stats back them up.
It is well documented that Palace have lost their last 10 Premier League games in which the Ivorian international hasn’t played. And Zaha was front and centre in their 2-0 win against Burnley on Saturday, causing The Clarets’ defence no end of problems even if he was unable to get on the score-sheet.
So many Brighton fans might be thinking that all they need to do is man-mark Zaha to get a result against their bitter rivals at The Amex on Tuesday night.
But Seagulls boss Chris Hughton is under no illusions that Crystal Palace have more than the former Manchester United man at their disposal.
“It’s an interesting question because I suppose there are the stats that we all know about as regards them winning games with Zaha,” Hughton admitted to the Brighton and Hove Independent.
“But I think as a team and the way the team plays, and the individuals they have got, no I don’t think they are as reliant on him as a team. But he is an outstanding individual and there is no doubt he is a top, top player that can turn a game.
“When you pick out the top players in the country and look at their abilities, he has those type of abilities. So there is no doubt about that quality he has got, but I think it would be unfair to say they are a team that rely on him.”
A number of Roy Hodgson’s supporting cast stepped up against Burnley at Selhurst Park. Max Meyer produced arguably his best performance since his summer move from Schalke while Andros Townsend highlighted his own match-winning qualities with a stunning long-range strike which flew into the top corner.
But if Zaha isn’t on song, Palace’s hopes of a win at Brighton certainly won’t have been boosted.
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