Newcastle primed for more silverware as Callum Wilson eyes up the Benteke Trophy
Leicester City fans don’t fear the best players. They fear the ones who look like they couldn’t hit a barn door with a banjo. This is why.
When Leicester City’s players line up in the tunnel tonight and take a glance over at their Newcastle United counterparts, you might think they will be fearing the sight of superstar Swedish striker Alexander Isak.
The world at his feet. A rumoured price tag of more than £100million. 20 Premier League goals so far this season.
Actually, they’ll probably be just as worried if Isak isn’t passed fit and they look over and see Callum Wilson.
33 years old. Contract about to expire. No Premier League goals for more than 12 months.
Welcome to the world of the Benteke Trophy.
In all truth, it should probably be called the Francis Benali Trophy in honour of the man who played 373 times for Southampton across 16 years and scored once - against Leicester City.
In TFW land, it’s called the Benteke Trophy because Iain Wright passed on the experience of his mate Paul saying back in 2018 that Christian Benteke always seemed to score against Leicester and nobody else. Later that afternoon, Benteke scored again in a 5-0 humbling for Claude Puel’s side at Selhurst Park.
There have been some humdingers down the years.
Iain first raised the spectre of the Benteke Trophy ahead of another trip to Selhurst Park in 2023 which ended in defeat when Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta scored his first goal after a 24-game drought.
Mateta held the Benteke Trophy for just a few days. Brendan Rodgers was sacked, Adam Sadler and Mike Stowell took over as caretaker managers and Bertrand Traore curled home his first goal in almost two years to condemn Leicester to another late defeat.
Traore himself basked in the glory for just a few weeks before passing it on to Tom Cairney, who scored two goals in the disastrous defeat at Fulham that felt like it sealed relegation.
Aaron Ramsey and Mustapha Bundu were just two holders of the Benteke Trophy during the Championship title-winning season of 2023/24 but Premier League goalscoring great Ruud van Nistelrooy has taken the Benteke Trophy to new levels - or depths, depending on how you view it.
Iain has rounded up the following numbers to summarise:
Brentford (A) - The opening goal of Kevin Schade’s hat-trick was his first in 12 Premier League games this season.
West Ham (H) - Niclas Fullkrug scored his first Premier League goal in seven games.
Newcastle (A) - First Premier League goals of the season for both Jacob Murphy (12th game) and Bruno Guimaraes (15th game).
Wolves (H) - Rodrigo Gomes scores his first Premier League goal in his 10th game.
Manchester City (H) - Savinho scores his first Premier League goal in his 15th game.
Aston Villa (A) - Leon Bailey scores for the first time in two years.
QPR (H) - Jonathan Varane scores his only first team goal in 90 appearances.
Fulham (H) - Adama Traore scores his first goal in 17 Premier League games.
Everton (A) - In the 6th minute, Beto scores his first goal in 8 games. Leicester are already 1-0 down by that stage and Beto scores again in a 4-0 defeat.
Manchester United (H) - Ending their goal droughts in all competitions - Rasmus Hojlund (22 games) and Alejandro Garnacho (25 games).
(In fact, Garnacho deserves to win some kind of Benteke Trophy Lifetime Achievement category. This was Garnacho’s first domestic goal since November 2024 when he scored against Leicester in the Premier League, which was his first goal in three games since he scored against Leicester in the League Cup. Three of his nine goals this season in all competitions have been scored against Leicester. Meanwhile, Garnacho’s attacking output is so maligned this season the BBC published an entire article about it yesterday.)
Manchester City (A) - By now predicted by practically every Leicester fan aware of this phenomenon, Jack Grealish takes two minutes to score his first Premier League goal since December 2023.
No pressure, Callum…
