Raheem Sterling is set for his first reunion with former club Liverpool on Saturday and statistics from Oulala show that the England winger has made major strides in his game at Manchester City.
Despite Sterling’s excellent run of form under Manuel Pellegrini, Jurgen Klopp is not unduly concerned at the prospect of facing the one-time Liverpool winger, who departed the club in acrimonious circumstances during the summer.
The 20-year-old spent much of his final season at Anfield being played out of position, filling in as a wing-back and lone striker as Brendan Rodgers regularly changed formation and tactics. By contrast Sterling has found a settled position in Pellegrini’s City XI, and the stats show he has made the most of it.
However Klopp deflected focus from the reunion when speaking in the build-up to Saturday’s match.
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Speaking about whether Sterling’s return brought added significance to the game Klopp said: “It’s normal and nothing special.
“I don’t know how many friends Raheem has here but he’s a good player. He played here, had a good time here, I’ve heard no bad word about him.
“Friendly, shake hands, then it’s football.”
Sterling’s six goals have come at a rate of one every 191 minutes, slightly below a goal every other game, compared to the nearly five games it would take him to find the back of the net last season. He still managed 11 goals in his final Liverpool campaign, just two fewer than top-scorer Steven Gerrard.
His improved goal return may largely be down to a dramatically better shot accuracy. The Manchester City man is now hitting the target with nearly two-thirds of his attempts, a major step up on a figure of 53 per cent last term.
Oulala’s statistics suggest that Sterling attacking game has improved in almost every facet as he has made more successful passes, and made them more accurately, in a City shirt. However the winger did have a better percentage of completed take-ons at Anfield.
The addition of Sterling, along with big-budget signings Kevin De Bruyne and Nicolas Otamendi, has helped push Manchester City to the Premier League summit, where they lead Arsenal on goal difference.
Asked whether Pellegrini’s side are the best in England, Klopp was unmoved.
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He said: “I don’t care about if they’re the best team in the league. All I care about is if Liverpool are the best team in the league.”
Graphic supplied by daily fantasy football game www.oulala.com
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