No Easy Street for Sturridge

JURGEN KLOPP has admitted Daniel Sturridge is not in an “easy” moment of his Liverpool career but has reassured the striker he will come through a rare barren spell.

The forward has not scored in the Premier League since finding the net against doomed Newcastle in April, a ninematch sequence lasting 616 minutes.

Liverpool’s inability to find a way beyond Manchester United’s massed defence on Monday meant Sturridge’s 100th appearance for the club passed without so much as a half-chance. While Klopp accepts Sturridge’s confidence has taken a hit, he believes the forward will emerge from a spell in which everything is feeling a little strained.

“Daniel is hard-working, he is fit,” said Klopp. “He is doing what all players have to do in the moments like this when it doesn’t quite go for you. That is, keep working.

“You can’t do a bicycle kick or what Jamie Vardy did last year. He shot when we thought he had to run another 20 yards and then boop! Goal! Sometimes it works.

“Robert Lewandowski – there were times when he didn’t score. Gerd Muller? There were games he didn’t score. You look back on his career and he scored 600 times but there were moments when he didn’t score.

“If you are a striker, there will be good moments and then hard-working moments. It is not easy.”

There is no doubt Sturridge’s productivity has slowed. He scored 36 in his first 50 appearances and 19 in his next half-century. Under Brendan Rodgers he scored 42 goals in 70 appearances. Under Klopp, it is 13 in 30.

Sturridge’s starting place is under threat against West Brom today after he made way for Adam Lallana against United after 59 minutes on Monday.

West Brom boss Tony Pulis has his own striker problems, admitting that Saido Berahino needed to be taken out of the side and placed on a personal fitness plan.

The striker is now doing extra work as well as training with the first team after the club decided he was overweight and unfit to play.