Could Sturridge’s absence cost Reds Champions League spot?

Daniel Sturridge has formed a deadly partnership with Luis Suarez for Liverpool, but the England striker could be missing for up to eight weeks

Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge could be out of action for up to eight weeks with an ankle injury.

The England striker missed the Reds 3-1 defeat at Hull and his absence was felt as his team struggled to make an impact on the home defence.

Outstanding

Sturridge has been outstanding for Liverpool since arriving from Chelsea in January. At Chelsea he was a highly-inconsistent, rather mercurial player.

However, he was rather unlucky to not get the game time his potential and talent probably deserved.

He hit the ground running at Liverpool playing in his more favoured central attacking role and the goals have flowed for the former-Manchester City striker.

Sturridge has found the net nine times in 11 appearances in the Premier League this season, which makes him joint-second top scorer in the Premier League with teammate Luis Suarez.

Partnership

Sturridge’s partnership with controversial Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez has become one of the most feared in the Premier League. The way the pair have combined since Suarez returned from suspension had Liverpool fans believing they could even have an outside chance of the title.

The partnership of Sturridge and Suarez is arguably the deadliest in the top-flight. They are right up there with Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie at Manchester United and Sergio Aguero and Alvaro Negredo at Manchester City in terms of partnerships.

The combination has led to the pair scoring 18 of the Reds 25 goals in the top-flight this season. It will be very difficult for the Reds to replace the striker’s goals.

Struggle

The absence of Sturridge at Hull, really did have an effect on how effective the Reds were going forward. Suarez was ineffective and those rare occasions that Suarez is ineffective, somebody else needs to step-up for the Reds and Sturridge has been doing that quite a bit this season.

When Suarez was suspended at the beginning of the season it was Sturridge that helped the Reds to gain valuable points. The start to the season he made has led to people changing their whole perception of the striker.

People were actually talking about the striker developing into a top-class player, after a very lukewarm time at Chelsea. Unfortunately the injury has curtailed his good season and it will be awhile before the striker is back in action for the Reds.

International

Daniel Sturridge was carrying an injury while on international duty with England recently. The striker appeared for England against Germany and aggravated the injury. Sturridge then had to start the Merseyside derby against Everton on the bench.

He came off the substitute’s bench and scored a vital late equaliser, but his appearance obviously did not help his injury. The injury is bad enough to prevent him from playing for the Reds until next year.

Everybody involved with Liverpool must be unhappy with Sturridge appearing for England, when he was carrying an injury. England boss Roy Hodgson stated he had no regrets about playing the striker against Germany.

Costly

The next few weeks could be crucial for Liverpool in the race for Champions League qualification and Daniel Sturridge’s absence is a major blow. The competition for those top four places is massive with six or even seven teams in with a chance of claiming a top four place this season.

The loss of such a key player as Daniel Sturridge for a crucial period of the season could be really costly. Any team would miss a player of Sturridge’s quality and his absence could be key to Liverpool’s chances of achieving a top four place.

Quality

Liverpool still has talent in their squad. The Reds still have quality players in their team, such as Steven Gerrard, Philippe Coutinho and of course the brilliant Suarez. However, with the top of the Premier League table so tight, Sturridge’s absence could be the difference between success and failure for Liverpool this season.

Could Sturridge’s absence cost Reds Champions League spot?