Norwich City will be delighted to see Liverpool line-up without Luis Suarez when they visit Anfield on Sunday.
The controversial Uruguayan netted 12 goals in his six Reds appearances against the Canaries, including this cracking pair in 2014…
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It is no secret that Liverpool miss Suarez. What team would not struggle desperately to replace a man who won the Golden Boot with 31 Premier League goals?
However, Anfield’s new super striker, Christian Benteke, should be confident of doing the business this weekend.
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Although his record is not even close to Suarez’s, Benteke has also shown strong form in his previous matches against Norwich.
In five games for former club Aston Villa, the Belgian target man netted four times. Villa did not lose any of those games, winning four.
Benteke and Suarez provide very different threats.
Liverpool’s £32.5m summer signing – transfer fee according to BBC Sport – is a big physical presence, who has superb heading prowess and thrives on direct service.
Meanwhile, Suarez is an unpredictable genius who has mind-boggling ability with the ball at his feet.
However, Benteke’s feet are capable of producing magic too. His stunning acrobatic strike in last Saturday’s 3-1 defeat at Manchester United was not a one-off.
Benteke scored against Norwich for Villa with an equally-brilliant bicycle kick in 2014…
Liverpool and Norwich both go into Sunday’s match with seven points from their opening five Premier League matches, but Alex Neil’s men are above the Reds on goal difference, with the Merseyside outfit on -3 following 3-1 and 3-0 defeats to Man United and West Ham United respectively.
Norwich have beaten Liverpool twice during the Premier League era, but not since April 1994, when Jeremy Goss secured a historic 1-0 victory at Anfield.
The two sides have met 10 times since Goss had his day. Liverpool have been victorious on nine of those occasions, scoring 33 goals and conceding just eight.
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