On Monday night Liverpool visit the Emirates to face Arsenal, the first real test of the Reds’ top four ambitions after wins against both Stoke City and Bournemouth.
The game will see both club’s marquee summer signings, Petr Cech and Christian Benteke, come head-to-head. Opta-powered fantasy football game www.oulala.com have taken a closer look at Christian Benteke and analysed how he has fared in Arsenal’s opening games against his performances from last season.
Benteke has enjoyed a good start to his Liverpool career after joining from Aston Villa in the summer.
On Monday night the Belgian netted his first goal for Liverpool on his Anfield debut against Bournemouth as the Reds ran out 1-0 winners. It was also his 43rd Premier League goal and his 50th career goal in England after three successful seasons at Aston Villa.
Last season the 24-year-old netted 13 goals in 29 Premier League games for Villa. On average each goal came every 183 minutes. His goals to shots ratio was reasonable with a strike-rate of 16%. While his shot accuracy sat at 45%.
Benteke won a total of 187 aerial duels last season, an average of 6.5 per game. 17 more than his closest challenger, Graziano Pellè of Southampton.
The Belgian also created an average of 1.1 chances per game for his Villa team-mates and he had a pass completion of 67%.
In the summer Liverpool made a host of new additions, Benteke headlining, for a reported fee of £32.5 million.
Despite failing to score on his debut away to Stoke, normal service resumed for the striker as he hit the winner at home to Bournemouth. The Belgian has shown improvements in many areas for Liverpool since his move.
One goal in his first two games has resulted in a goal every 180 minutes. His strike-rate is up to 25%, with his shot accuracy also rising to 67%.
The 24-year-old is already leading the aerial duels charts, winning a total of 18 already this season, a rate of 9 per game. He is also showing improvement creatively, providing his new team-mates with 2 chances per game.
The only area analysed where the Belgian has dropped is passing. Falling to 62% for pass completion.
Benteke has netted twice against Cech, in May and August of 2013.
Will the Belgian add to his tally against the Czech or can the keeper notch up his first clean sheet of the season?