Christian Benteke Will Surpass His 2012/13 EPL Goal Tally

With three goals in his first two Premier League matches of the season, Christian Benteke currently sits atop the goalscoring table and is well on the way to beating last season's sum of 19.

Of all the players under the age of 23 in Europe last season, the Belgian forward scored most goals, as reported by Darren Lewis in The Mirror. Quite an achievement considering he was playing in an Aston Villa side that lacked experience, strength in depth and firepower and, at one point, looked destined to be playing Championship football this season.

Not only was Benteke's goal tally impressive last year but, as Squawka reveal, his overall stats prove just how vital he was to Villa's survival.

The statistics show that Benteke's 19 goals came from a shooting accuracy of 59 percent with an impressive conversion rate of 26 percent, meaning that the 22-year-old forward scored one goal in every four chances—not bad for a first season in English football.

Better still, Benteke was able to find the back of the net once in every 149 minutes—a vital statistic considering Villa were shipping goals at the other end.

And not only did he just score goals, the Belgian also created 51 chances for his side, with an opportunity arriving every 53 minutes he was on the field.

Following up one of the more impressive debut seasons in the Premier League with a similar—or preferably even better—goalscoring record is always going to be a challenge for any player.

Take Robinho for instance.

The Brazilian star, who arrived at Manchester City from Spanish giants Real Madrid, set the league alight during his first campaign as he finished the season as City's top scorer with 14 goals—the fourth-highest in the league that year. His second season was a disaster, however, with the forward featuring just 12 times, finding the net on only one occasion before being loaned out to Brazilian side Santos.

Benteke was determined not to suffer a similar sort of fate as Robinho, though, with the Belgian acknowledging and accepting that he was to bear Villa's goalscoring burden after signing a bumper deal with the Midlands-based club, announced on their website. 

And in an interview with Sky Sports, "Chris" insisted that he was confident in his own ability ahead of the new campaign and expected to perform better than the previous year.

He said:

"

I feel good, I feel really good. I expect myself to do better than last season.

As a striker, a lot of people are waiting for me. The fans are waiting for me. So the pressure is going to be bigger around me but this is football and I accept that.

I can take that. I am young. I am confident. This is part of football. You have to be able to handle this pressure. This is the life I have chosen so I am happy to take this on. I love it

The objective is to do better than last season. We have quality in the team. We have to try to do better. That's our aim.

"

Benteke has, so far, lived up to his word. The striker scored a brace on the opening weekend of the season as Villa downed Arsenal 3-1 at the Emirates Stadium before scoring an impressive goal in his side's hard-fought 2-1 loss away to Chelsea.

The Belgian's stats for the 2013/14 campaign so far are even more impressive than last season's.

His three goals in two appearances come from a shot accuracy of an astounding 80 percent, with a chance conversion rate of 60 percent. That's one goal in every 1.6 chances.

Benteke has won 54 percent of his duels against opponents so far this campaign—remarkable considering that the defenders he has faced have been Arsenal's Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker as well as Chelsea's John Terry and Gary Cahill.

After just two Premier League fixtures, it could be premature to say that Benteke will better last season's goal record, but the Belgian doesn't like to disappoint.

With confidence levels at an all-time high and now fully established in the Premier League, barring a serious injury, it's difficult to think that the frontman won't continue in the rich vein of goalscoring form to become the first Villa striker to notch 20 league goals in over three decades.