Christian Benteke: 'I would still make Liverpool XI'

Crystal Palace forward Christian Benteke has insisted that he would still make it into Liverpool's first XI despite the presence of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane.

The Belgium international scored 10 times in 42 appearances for Liverpool during the 2015-16 campaign before leaving for Palace, where he has managed 21 goals in 96 outings.

Benteke has struck just four Premier League goals since the end of the 2016-17 season, but the powerful forward has claimed that he could still feature in his former club's attack.

"Yeah. It's easy to say now because I play for Palace and they play for Liverpool, but when you train every day with the same players and the manager believes in you, it's easier," Benteke told SPORTbible.

"People will say I'm making excuses, but everyone knows the club was going through a transition when I was there. If you compare the team from when I was there to the current team, I think there are only three, four players still in the first XI, most of them are new."

Liverpool have won all seven of their Premier League matches at the start of the 2019-20 campaign to sit five points clear at the top of the table.