Thursday 29 March 2018 07:24, UK
Ahead of Crystal Palace hosting Liverpool on Saturday, we take a closer look at Christian Benteke's form...
The Belgian faces his former club Liverpool on Saturday, live on Sky Sports, but has managed only two league goals this season - the most recent coming against West Ham two months ago.
Benteke made his name in England during three successful seasons at Aston Villa, prompting then-Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers to sign him for £32.5m during the summer of 2015.
However, Rodgers was axed two months into the season and replaced with Jurgen Klopp - and Benteke only started 14 league games and made another 15 appearances from the bench during the campaign.
After just one season on Merseyside, Benteke signed for Crystal Palace in a £32m deal and scored 15 goals during his first season in London - helping the Eagles secure their top-flight status.
But the 6' 2'' striker has been misfiring during his second term at Selhurst Park, with just the two goals from 2,065 minutes - a goal ratio of around one goal every 11 games.
Benteke suffered from the team's poor start to the season. The Eagles lost their first seven league games - four during the 77-day tenure of Frank de Boer - and the team remained goalless.
Palace appointed Roy Hodgson as their new manager in mid-September and - three games later - ended their losing streak with a shock 2-1 win over reigning champions Chelsea.
So what's going wrong for the Belgian? We check the stats...
Benteke has matched his expected goals (xG) projection in his previous two seasons - but has scored six fewer than expected this term.
According to the Sky Sports Power Rankings, Benteke's best performance over the past three seasons was during a 2-1 win against upcoming opponents Liverpool, in April last year.
Benteke scored both the goals - from three shots on target - and created three additional chances. Interestingly, he has not hit more than three shots on goal in a Premier League fixture since the start of 2015/16.
The Belgian also scored twice against Southampton in December, 2016, which ranks as his second-best performance.
Unsurprisingly, his top two performances this term have been when he's scored - against Leicester and West Ham - but he also impressed during a 2-1 win at Southampton in February.
Overall, his performances have improved as the season has progressed - with above-average performances against Huddersfield and Manchester United in recent weeks.
Compared with last season, per 90 minutes, Benteke's stats are drastically down for goals, shot conversion rate, shots on target, total shots and shooting accuracy - despite having more big chances in front of goal.
One of those chances was a potential match-winning penalty against Bournemouth, when Benteke overruled designated penalty taker Luka Milivojevic to take charge of the spot-kick - but failed to convert his attempt.
I am frustrated, especially when you see a penalty missed in the last minutes of the game, by someone who has not been designated as a penalty taker.
However, he has registered six assists during the current campaign, having only recorded two last term - in addition to creating far more chances.
Benteke has also won more duels and aerials this season, in addition to taking more touches - although he has made a higher number of passes in his own half per game - which suggests he has played in a slightly deeper role.
The graphic below confirms Benteke has played deeper this season, recording far higher concentrations of activity in the centre of the half-way line and along the upper region of the middle-third.
There also appears to be hot spots in centre-right areas of the opposition's half, having typically worked down his favoured left channel more last term.
Against Leicester in December, Benteke benefitted from working alongside Wilfried Zaha, with Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Andros Townsend occupying the wide positions.
Against Liverpool in April last year, the Belgian excelled by playing ahead of Zaha and Yohan Cabaye and supported by full-backs Jeffrey Schlupp and Joel Ward.
One of his worst performances this term was against Everton in February, when the Belgian played uncharacteristically deep and worked in a crowded, left-of-centre region with James McArthur and Alexander Sorloth.
Unsurprisingly, Benteke has combined most with wingers Zaha and Townsend for assists, chances created and passes.
Benteke has passed to Zaha more than any other player this term with 52 attempts, followed by Townsend (47) and Cabaye (44).
He has received most passes from 'keepers Wayne Hennessey (133) and Julian Speroni (48) - reinforcing his role as a target man - followed by outfield trio Milivojevic (44), Townsend (40) and Zaha (34).
Townsend has also assisted both of Benteke's goals this season, and created 16 chances, followed by Zaha (nine) and Cabaye (five).
The Belgian has scored 12 headers in the Premier League over the past three seasons - nearly half of his 26 goals - but his performances have not necessarily benefited from receiving a higher number of crosses.
In fact, his best two performances during that period both produced two goals and only 11 and 13 attempted crosses, respectively. For context, Palace attempted 46 crosses during a 4-1 win over Stoke in September, 2016.
So, even though Palace have, at times, sought to fire a high frequency of crosses and exploit Benteke's aerial prowess - the Belgian does not appear to necessarily perform better. On average, Benteke scores during a game when Palace attempt 20 crosses.
In terms of running, Benteke has increased his distance covered for three consecutive seasons, averaging at 5.64 km at Liverpool - primarily from his 15 substitute appearances, 8.67 km last season and 8.80 this term.
The graph below suggests Benteke responded from starting on the bench against Stoke to produce a spike in distance covered during the following fixture at Brighton with 10.04 km covered - hitting double digits for the first time in more than two years.
Benteke has also exceeded 40 sprints in several performances since the Brighton game and has maintained fairly consistent levels - with the exception of his 45 minutes during the 2-1 defeat at Chelsea earlier this month.
Benteke has played more centrally and occupied right-of-centre regions, in a deeper role - making more passes in his own half - and, as a result, has created far more assists and chances.
But his best performances have been playing further forward and linking with Zaha and Townsend - having missed the former through injury in recent weeks.
The extreme disparity between his current goal tally and xG levels, coupled with a far higher rate of missing big chances, suggests he has suffered from low confidence in front of goal - epitomised by the penalty debacle at Bournemouth.
But the early-season turmoil at Selhurst Park, amid a goalless opening seven games, may have instigated the prolonged slump of conviction in front of goal.
Benteke's best performance in a Palace shirt came nearly one year ago against Liverpool - and the Belgian needs to rekindle that form when Hodgson's men host Liverpool on Saturday.
Watch Crystal Palace v Liverpool live on Sky Sports Premier League from 11:30am on Saturday
