On Monday night Liverpool visit the Emirates to face Arsenal, the first real test of the Reds’ top four ambitions after consecutive wins against both Stoke City and Bournemouth to start 2015-16. It is also a fixture that can evaluate the Gunners’ credentials after being labelled by many as title challengers this season.
The game will see both clubs’ marquee summer signings, Petr Cech and Christian Benteke, come head-to-head. In part one of our series, Opta-powered fantasy football game www.oulala.com takes a closer look at new Arsenal gloveman and analyses how he has fared in the opening games under new surroundings against his performances from 2014-15.
Cech made just seven appearances for Chelsea in the Premier League last season, with manager Jose Mourinho installing Thibaut Courtois as the first-choice No.1.
Despite only enjoying a handful of games the Czech international still impressed.
The 33-year-old registered five clean sheets in the Premier League, an overall clean-sheet-rate of 71.4%. For each of the goals that Cech conceded last season, he made seven saves, resulting in a denial every 43 minutes.
The keeper made an average of 1.6 catches and just 0.3 punches per game in the domestic competition for Chelsea last season, while his distribution accuracy came in at a respectable 63%.
Expectations were high after the high profile move to Arsenal in the summer, with much talk that he could take the north-London club to a new level.
However, his Arsenal career did not begin on the highest note, losing to West Ham 2-0 at the Emirates, with the custodian questioned for both of the goals. The Gunners recovered from their opening day defeat though, with a hard-fought 2-1 victory at Crystal Palace last weekend.
Cech is still yet to keep a Premier League clean sheet since moving North. This has translated to far fewer saves for each of the goals that he has let through in comparison to last season, just 0.7 saves per concession, while each save that Cech has made has come every 90 minutes.
The former-Chelsea hero is making far more punches per game (1.5) than he did at Stamford Bridge last term, which is not always a good sign, his catching stats falling narrowly to 1.5 per game. Yet, the 33-year-old’s distribution is up to a very healthy 71% this season.
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