Wilfried Zaha is on course for his best-ever Premier League goals and assists figures after a shift to centre forward. Roy Hodgson discusses the player's new role. Watch Crystal Palace vs Tottenham live on Sky Sports Premier League from 2pm on Sunday; kick-off 2.30pm.
Sunday 13 December 2020 16:58, UK
Tottenham boast the best defensive record in the Premier League. They've let in just one goal in their last six. So what chance do Crystal Palace have of breaking them down on Sunday? The 2,000 fans returning to Selhurst Park for the London derby will be looking to Wilfried Zaha for inspiration.
The 28-year-old is no stranger to bearing the expectations and hopes of the Palace fans. He has, after all, been their star man for much of the past decade. But there is extra reason to believe in Zaha right now.
Firstly, his form is scintillating. He returned from two weeks away after a positive coronavirus test to run the show at West Brom last week, picking up from where he left off before that absence to score twice and assist another in a 5-1 thrashing of Slaven Bilic's side, who were reduced to 10 men in the first half.
But another reason to believe Zaha will be the difference maker for Palace this weekend and beyond is his adaptation to the central striking role.
Zaha has made his name as a fleet-footed winger, combining skill and pace into a dribbling ability that gives defenders nightmares. But moving up top he's also added a more clinical element to his game in the final third, as his seven goals in nine Premier League games this season demonstrates.
"He's always had the attributes to play the type of centre forward role we want him to play," Palace boss Roy Hodgson tells Sky Sports.
"We're not asking him to be a target-playing centre forward. We want him to make sure he gets on the ball alongside a colleague who will quite possibly take a lot more of that target role if needed.
He's always had the ability to get away the sort of shots he's getting away now. But I think now he's got a much bigger awareness of 'I need to add goals to my game and to do that I need to make certain every time an opportunity presents itself I've got to take it'.
"But Wilf's never really been a player who's been totally comfortable just to stay out wide and hope the ball comes to him. He's always wanted to get into positions where he can make certain the ball comes to him.
"Even when he was playing in wider positions, as he did for us on many occasions, we were always encouraging him to go infield and look for the ball and look for opportunities to link up with other forwards.
"So it's not been a massive change in what we're asking him to do, it's really fairly similar. But the thing we have asked him to do, and we've been talking about for a long, long time but he certainly now seems to have embraced it fully is, 'we need more goals and assists from you'.
"'The quality of football you're capable of showing - the footwork and the wonderful things you do - sometimes, we need an end product from that'.
"And this year he's done that with a vengeance because he's got seven goals and two assists, which is pretty good going."
In fact, Zaha - who recorded four goals and three assists after appearing in every Premier League game last season - is on course for a best-ever total of goal contributions this season.
The tally of 10 goals and five assists in 2018/19 is the mark to beat but with his new role and shifted mindset, that looks well within reach.
"He's always had the ability to get away the sort of shots he's getting away now, and occasionally he's done it in training and occasionally not," said Hodgson. "But I think now he's got a much bigger awareness of 'I need to add goals to my game and to do that I need to make certain every time an opportunity presents itself I've got to take it'."
Palace have also been boosted by summer signing Ebe Eze, who has stepped into Zaha's former left-wing role seamlessly.
The 22-year-old, who joined from Championship side QPR, has a goal and two assists to his name this season but that doesn't tell the story of the excitement he creates when he gets on the ball. Eze, in fact, is even dribbling more than Zaha.
"He's found the step up very easy because he's got the quality," said Hodgson, who described Eze's display against West Brom as his best yet for Palace.
"A lot of his other performances for us have been good. This one just happened to be an exceptional one where everything seemed to go so well for him and we won the game by a big margin."
That win at the Hawthorns was also labelled of "vital importance with the programme we have in front of us" by the Palace boss, and, beyond this weekend's clash with Tottenham, a midweek trip to in-form West Ham and match-up with Liverpool at Anfield follow in quick succession.
It's a daunting run but Palace have shown this season they should be respected too, with the 3-1 win at Manchester United and 4-1 victory over Leeds underlining their threat and helping them to 16 points from 11 matches, their joint-best return at this stage of a Premier League season.
It's steady progress but Hodgson - now into his fourth season at the club - is typically cautious of getting carried away.
"I think we're consistent, which is important," he says. "The players do basically know what they're doing, what they're good at and what they need to keep doing to get results.
"I think the squad this year, arguably, on paper, is stronger, if we can keep everybody on board. But the fact is it's so tight at the moment, especially the middle of the table, the group between about sixth and seventh and 16th, there's virtually nothing between the teams.
"It's so easy to move up or to move down, it's a real snakes and ladders situation. You can be happy in this moment of time with your 16 points. Yeah, good, decent start, we're happy. But you know full well in three weeks' time you could be asking me quite the opposite, '16 points from 14 games, not very good, are you worried about relegation?'
"Whenever I'm asked about what we're doing and where we are at the moment, I can't answer it without fearing that it could change so quickly because it changes so quickly for everybody."
The 2,000 fans watching Palace this Sunday for the first time in nine months are entitled to dream, though. And with Zaha in his current form and relishing his new role, they can go to Selhurst Park hoping to see the unexpected.
This week on the Pitch to Post Preview Podcast, Peter Smith is joined by Sky Sports News reporters James Cooper and Ben Ransom to discuss the Manchester derby, including whether David de Gea will be dropped, why John Stones is back in the City side, and how it could all play out.
Their colleague Michael Bridge is on the line to discuss Crystal Palace vs table-toppers Tottenham, plus Sky Sports Data Editor Adam Smith has the numbers behind Arsenal's attack and Liverpool's strength in depth - as well as his Pitch for what will happen in the Premier League this weekend!
Listen to the Sky Sports Pitch to Post Podcast on: Spotify | Apple | Castbox
