Crystal Palace have lost their last 12 Premier League games without Wilfried Zaha, so, naturally, the news that their Ivorian winger is back in training is a huge boost for the Eagles.
Palace head to Huddersfield Town on Saturday (Watch live, 10 a.m. ET online via NBCSports.com) in what already seems like a massive clash. The Terriers have yet to win in the Premier League this season, while Palace have lost three-straight after their opening day win.
Speaking about the possibility of Zaha coming straight back into his team this weekend, Palace boss Roy Hodgson was cautious.
“It was Wilf’s first training session today. It was debated whether he should join in, but he was determined to,” Hodgson said. “The same with James Tomkins. We’ll have to wait and see how they react to tomorrow’s training session to see if they will be available. If we listen to our medical department, both are coming back as early, if not earlier, than should have been expected.”
Right, so if you have Wilf in your PL fantasy team I’d say he will have a 75 percent chance of playing but the sounds of things. So ignore that little yellow caution sign next to him in your FPL team. Zaha is that important to Palace that they may well take a risk to start him.
Yes, it’s early in the season for that, but we saw against Southampton before the break how the entire dynamic of their attacking unit alters without Zaha.
Christian Benteke, who has yet to score this season and missed a hatful of chances in the defeat against Saints, is out injured with a knee problem. If Zaha is fit enough he will come in for Benteke through the middle up top, with new signings Cheikhou Kouyate and Max Meyer both up to full fitness and they could start for the Eagles in midfield.