fantasy premier league new player profile – Crystal Palace’s Yohan Cabaye

Yohan Cabaye is a 29 year old 1.75m (5 foot 9 inch) 29 year old French International who has signed for Crystal Palace from PSG for £12.8m.  He’s been priced at £6.5m in FPL.  We look at his stats and FPL prospects.

fantasy premier league new player profile – Crystal Palace’s Yohan Cabaye

Here’s his stats:

It’s worth noting that I’ve only included Newcastle’s half season in 13/14.  Apart from that season the stats are pretty ordinary to say the least.  However this is one transfer which is not purely about stats but about position.

The FPL prospects

Gametime wise there will be no issue given the fee paid for him.

It’s position that will be key.  There’s no doubt that Pardew wants to try and address the balance in Palace’s playing style.  It’s no surprise that Palace’s away form has been better than their home form due to the counter attacking style that Pardew has introduced.  Palace despite their great finish ended up last in just about all the possession stats.  Bringing in Cabaye is a way of improving their possession and giving them more flexibility in playing style.  The questions is where will he play?  Pardew in the main played 4-2-3-1.  Will Cabaye play in the double pivot 2 as a play maker or will he play centrally in the 3 as a number 10.  That will be the crucial factor in the success of Cabaye.  For those wanting to gamble on Cabaye the words he uttered on his arrival will mean alot

“I know with Alan Pardew I can play higher up the pitch, just behind the striker”

How successful he will be is another question having played mainly as a CM with a scattering of AM performances.  For PSG he played deeper still.

Obviously there’s no adjustment factor having played in the premier league successfuly for Newcastle under the same coach in Alan Pardew.

Here’s Palace’s opening fixtures:

Norwich (A)
Arsenal (H)
Aston Villa (H)
Chelsea (A)
Man City (H)
Spurs (A)

Well apart from GW1 and GW3 it’s not a great set of fixtures.  Therefore not any compelling reason to jump to transfer him in early.  If you’re dead set on a wildcard after GW4 though you will at least get 2 good fixtures.

Pre-season should also give a clue as to his positioning and success of it.  Here’s Palace’s pre-season fixtures remaining:

18 July v Union Berlin (Stadion An der Alten Forsterei), 1pm
Cape Town Cup
24 July v Supersport United (Cape Town Stadium) 5.45pm
26 July v Ajax Cape Town or Sporting Clube de Portugal (Cape Town Stadium) TBC
1 August v Fulham (Craven Cottage) 3pm
3 August v Dagenham & Redbridge (Victoria Road) 8.30pm

Summary

• Pretty ordinary stats apart from 13/14 Newcastle season
• Gametime should be assured
• Position either as a CM or CAM in 4-2-3-1 the crucial point
• Pre-season will be key
• Difficult fixtures mean time should be on FPL managers side to review his performance

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fantasy premier league league code: 68300-19117