Crystal Palace 24/25 — FA Cup Winners: Full Squad & Ratings

Crystal Palace 2024/25 season — all 18 players rated, best XI, and how to draft them in 38-0.

Crystal Palace 2024/25 — Season Story

Crystal Palace won the first major trophy in their history in 2024/25, beating Manchester City 1-0 in the FA Cup final at Wembley — a result that rewrote the club's entire identity in a single afternoon. Eberechi Eze scored the goal, Dean Henderson saved a first-half penalty, and a team built by Austrian coach Oliver Glasner proved that sustained belief can beat even the most expensively assembled squad in the country.

The season had been a steady climb rather than a fairytale from day one. Palace finished 12th in the Premier League, comfortably clear of trouble but rarely threatening the European places, and the real story was the cup run: three away wins at top-flight grounds, a semi-final victory over Aston Villa, and then the final itself. Glasner's side pressed City relentlessly, stayed compact when they had to, and took the one clear chance the game offered.

The final swung on two moments. Henderson, signed from Manchester United the previous summer, dived to his left to keep out a City penalty that would have changed everything. Then Eze, Palace's homegrown jewel, produced the kind of finish he has been producing for years — cutting in from the left and beating the goalkeeper at the near post with a shot that had been practised a thousand times on the training ground.

The 2024/25 squad is therefore a piece of history: the team that ended 119 years of waiting, the first Palace side to lift the FA Cup, and the proof that the club's patient recruitment model — young talent, smart loans, a coach with a clear idea — can deliver silverware as well as survival.

The Cup Run

Palace's path to Wembley was built on road wins that would have seemed impossible a decade earlier. They knocked out Stockport County at home, then won at Doncaster, Ipswich and Fulham before a 3-1 semi-final win over Aston Villa that was more comfortable than the scoreline suggests. In every round, Glasner rotated just enough to keep the league form stable while treating the cup seriously.

The semi-final against Villa deserves special mention: Palace fell behind early and responded with three goals before half-time, with Jean-Philippe Mateta at the heart of everything. By the time they walked out at Wembley, they had beaten four top-flight sides in the competition — more than enough evidence that the final was no fluke.

Glasner's High-Pressing Project

Oliver Glasner arrived in February 2024 with a reputation for aggressive, front-foot football, and his second season gave him the time to build properly. Palace pressed higher than almost any team outside the top six, played out from the back with confidence, and used wing-backs Daniel Munoz and Tyrick Mitchell as the main creative outlets.

The system made Eze the focal point — given freedom to drift between the lines, he produced his best-ever numbers. It also revived Jean-Philippe Mateta, whose hold-up play and finishing became the team's main route to goal. By the end of the season, Palace's xG per game was among the best in the division outside the title contenders, and the cup final was simply the trophy version of what they had been doing all year.

The Final: Eze, Henderson and History

Manchester City dominated possession at Wembley, but the two moments that mattered belonged to Palace. Henderson's penalty save came in the first half, when City had their best spell — the save kept the score at 0-0 and visibly changed the momentum of the match. Eze's goal, shortly after, was a moment of individual brilliance against the run of play.

The final ten minutes were an exercise in game management: every Palace player defended, Henderson claimed crosses, and the whistle brought scenes that had never been seen in the club's history — players crying, fans singing, and a trophy being carried around Wembley in red and blue. The 2024/25 squad page will always be the page of the club's first FA Cup.

Key Players & Ratings

Eberechi Eze (84 OVR) is the team's creator-in-chief and the highest-rated player in the squad — a dribbler and finisher who can win a game from nothing. Marc Guehi (83) has become one of the most composed centre-backs in England, Jean-Philippe Mateta (82) is the physical focal point of the attack, and Dean Henderson (81) proved his quality with the decisive final.

The squad averages 78.2 OVR, below the 80.7 pool average, but the shape is interesting for drafters: a strong core of Eze, Guehi, Mateta and Henderson, useful wing-backs in Munoz (80) and Mitchell (78), and a tail of honest but limited squad players. The value is concentrated at the top.

Full 18-Man Squad

Best XI — Crystal Palace 2024/25

The highest-rated eleven available from this squad in 38-0:

• GK Dean Henderson 81 OVR
• RCB Maxence Lacroix 79 OVR
• CB Marc Guéhi 83 OVR
• CB Chris Richards 77 OVR
• RWB Daniel Muñoz 80 OVR
• LWB Tyrick Mitchell 78 OVR
• CM Adam Wharton 80 OVR
• CAM Eberechi Eze 84 OVR
• CAM Daichi Kamada 78 OVR
• RW Ismaïla Sarr 81 OVR
• ST Jean-Philippe Mateta 82 OVR

Drafting This Squad in 38-0

If the slot machine lands here, Eze is the headline pick — a top-tier attacking midfielder who creates and scores. Guehi is the defensive option, Mateta the striker, and Henderson a solid if not elite goalkeeper. The squad rewards need-based drafting more than most: there is no single obviously best pick beyond Eze.

In Legend mode, beware the trap of picking by name recognition. Adam Wharton and Cheick Doucoure are well known but rated 77-80, while Eze and Guehi are the real prizes. Know that hierarchy — Eze, Guehi, Mateta, Henderson — and this landing becomes a good one.

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