Villa paying price for Benteke sale – Sorensen

Aston Villa’s strikers must step up in the absence of Christian Benteke and start scoring goals if they are to stay in the Premier League, according to former goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen.

Benteke made a big-money move to Liverpool in July after the club met his release clause and Villa have struggled to fill the void, scoring a joint-low 13 goals to languish six points adrift at the foot of the Premier League table.

Jordan Ayew and fellow recruit Rudy Gestede have only scored three goals apiece and 39-year-old Sorensen – who appeared in over 150 matches in all competitions for Villa between 2003-2008 – fears for the future of Remi Garde’s side.

“They have struggled both on and off the field,” Sorensen – now playing for Melbourne City in the A-League – told Omnisport.

“There has been talk about the owner and whether he is going to keep the club or sell. This season, compared to last, he invested a lot of money. 

“But they sold Benteke. Liverpool faced a similar problem a couple of years ago when they sold Luis Suarez [to Barcelona].

“Villa brought in Gestede, who is a good Championship player, but it is so different in the Premier League and suddenly they are not scoring those goals in the tight games, which they probably got in the last couple of years.

“Garde needs to get the team to play together and see where the goals will come from because that is going to be the key for them beating the drop. They have to score and they aren’t doing so at the moment.”

Villa host Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday.