Oliver Glasner Praises Jean-Philippe Mateta's Patience Before Brentford Match

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Oliver Glasner has praised Jean-Philippe Mateta for his resilience during a challenging start to the season. The Crystal Palace striker is in excellent form as they prepare to face Brentford on Sunday. Mateta netted twice in Palace's 2-0 victory over West Ham, bringing his tally to four goals in the last three Premier League matches. Overall, he has scored eight goals this season after a slow start following his participation in the Olympic Games in Paris.

Brentford, who are currently 11th in the standings, sit just one point and one place above Crystal Palace. They recently suffered a 2-0 defeat against Liverpool, with Darwin Nunez scoring both goals late in the match. Before that, Brentford managed a 2-2 draw with Manchester City, earning praise for their performance. Thomas Frank expressed satisfaction with their recent displays, stating: "It was two very good games. The Manchester City game got us the most praise," Frank said. "It was more even but the more I look back at our game against Liverpool, in some ways that was equally as good."

Glasner acknowledged Brentford's strengths ahead of their upcoming clash. He noted their speed and structure, which make them formidable on transitions. "Brentford are very, very dangerous in transition with their pace," he said. Despite this, Glasner believes they have identified areas to exploit and aims to align the game with Palace's style of play.

Reflecting on Mateta's journey this season, Glasner shared insights during a pre-match press conference on Friday. "He was away for weeks for the Olympics," Glasner explained. "He lost the final and then had to come back four days before the start of the Premier League." This tight schedule made it difficult for Mateta to be ready immediately.

Jean-Philippe Mateta stands out as a key player for Crystal Palace under Glasner's leadership since February 24 last year. Only three players have scored more than Mateta's 21 goals in 35 games during this period. His conversion rate of 29.6% is second only to Nottingham Forest's Chris Wood among players with at least ten goals.

In contrast, Brentford relies heavily on goalkeeper Mark Flekken, who has made an impressive 101 saves across 22 Premier League appearances this season—the highest number by any goalkeeper so far. His average of 4.6 saves per game is notable since Jordan Pickford's record for Sunderland in the 2016-17 season.

Match Expectations and Predictions

Crystal Palace aims to secure consecutive London derby wins for the first time since April 2017 after defeating West Ham recently. They have won their last two Premier League matches without conceding a goal and hope to extend this streak against Brentford.

The match promises excitement as Brentford's games have produced numerous goals this season—79 across their 22 matches so far—with only Tottenham and Wolves having higher totals from their fixtures.

If Brentford concedes again, they will join an exclusive group of teams that have both scored and conceded at least 40 goals within just 23 games—a feat previously achieved by Spurs and Leeds United.

Crystal Palace has been resilient lately; losing only two out of their last fourteen Premier League encounters while securing six wins and six draws since October 27th when this run began.

This promising form places them alongside Liverpool (zero losses) and Arsenal (one loss) as teams with fewer defeats during this period.