The stats that show Liverpool shouldn’t underestimate Luiz

David Luiz will start for Chelsea against Liverpool this evening – his first appearance since being re-signed by the Blues from Paris St-Germain.

The Brazilian was much maligned during his first spell in England, attracting criticism after a number of defensive mishaps.

And news that he was set to play against their team was greeted with joy by many Liverpool fans on Twitter.

However, statistics provided by fantasy football game Oulala.com suggest those fans might be underestimating Luiz.

In fact, they suggest that so far this season he has performed better than Liverpool’s attacking players in five key areas.

Oulala’s statisticians analysed the performance data of each player in the Premier League and Ligue 1 this season.

The results show that Luiz completed a staggering 93% of passes. He also won 56% of headers and 50% of tackles.

And Luiz has an unblemished record when trying to go past players – successfully doing so 100% of the time. Saido Mane’s 67% is the best by a Liverpool player so far this season.