Friday 30 March 2018 11:58, UK
Wilfried Zaha is a doubt for Crystal Palace's game with Liverpool, live on Sky Sports this Saturday. His availability could be the difference between success and failure for Roy Hodgson this season, writes Adam Bate.
It is among the more alarming statistics in a difficult season for Crystal Palace. They have lost all 10 of their Premier League matches this season without Wilfried Zaha in the starting line-up. There have been some tough tests among those 10 games but one fancies the home defeats to Swansea and Southampton would have ended rather differently.
Indeed, if Crystal Palace could have matched their points-per-game average in the 21 matches that Zaha has started this season in the 10 that he did not, the Eagles would have amassed 44 points, not 30, and sit seventh in the table.
The Palace supporters will not be too surprised by that - Zaha transforms their team into an altogether different proposition.
Leicester's Riyad Mahrez is perhaps the only other viable contender for the tag of 'best player outside of the top six' but even he cannot match Zaha's influence. While the 25-year-old forward's record of four goals and two assists might not look too impressive, the impact that he has on the team has been repeatedly recognised by his colleagues.
It is why long-serving goalkeeper Julian Speroni calls him "world class" and why, after four defeats on the bounce in his absence, Palace picked up a crucial three points at Huddersfield last time out.
Zaha won the corner for the opening goal and, in making more high-intensity sprints than any other Palace player, provided the team's impetus. "We had some good situations in their half and that is really when Wilf comes into his own, with his pace and ability on the ball to go past people," said manager Roy Hodgson of Zaha's performance.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek echoed those sentiments in a recent interview with Sky Sports. "Wilf is a big, massive improvement to the side," explained the on-loan Chelsea midfielder. "His one-on-one abilities, he can get past people very easily. I think he is a massive outlet. If we are under pressure we can give it to Wilf to take us up the pitch."
That ability to carry the ball is a vital asset, arguably even more so in a struggling side. Despite his fitness problems, Zaha has completed more dribbles this season than any other Premier League player, with the exception of Eden Hazard. Over the last three years, Hazard just leads the way by 360 dribbles to 356 - nobody else has yet got close to 300.
Hodgson welcomes those "incredible qualities" but the veteran Palace boss is helping to evolve Zaha's game too. He was quick to praise him for chasing a lost cause "that meant we kept the ball in their half of the field" late on in the win over defending champions Chelsea in October and the stats hint at a growing maturity to the player's game.
Zaha's dribbling numbers have been remarkable throughout his Premier League career but the location of them is changing. He attempted 62 dribbles inside his own half two seasons ago and 55 last term. But so far this season he has attempted less than half of that amount in that area of the pitch. Now he is doing it where he can really hurt the opposition.
In part, that reflects Zaha's change of position under Hodgson. The coach's preference for a 4-4-2 system has often seen him redeployed as a forward rather than as a winger. That has freed him up from some of his defensive responsibilities and, importantly, ensured that Zaha has been able to focus on making the difference for Palace in the final third.
So far this season, he has had 155 touches in the opposition box, already more than he managed last season. In fact, he is averaging 7.3 touches in the opposition box per 90 minutes - by far the most by any player in a bottom-half team. Of course, if Zaha had been available for every game this season, Palace would not actually be a bottom-half team.
Instead, the reality is that they go into Saturday's game against Liverpool at Selhurst Park knowing that defeat could mean only goal difference will be keeping them out of the Premier League relegation zone by the end of the day. They will need to be at their very best against Jurgen Klopp's in-form team. They will surely need a fit Zaha.
Which is why it will be such a concern that the knock with which he left the field late on against Huddersfield also prevented him from featuring for Ivory Coast during the international break and makes him a doubt for Saturday. After all, Zaha is not only Palace's most valuable player. His fitness could decide their Premier League fate.
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