News'We caused problems everywhere' – Sturridge relives Suarez partnership

The pair were teammates at the Reds for an 18-month spell that saw them combine to unforgettable goalscoring effect, including a Premier League title challenge in 2013-14.

As Brendan Rodgers’ side finished a narrow second that term, Sturridge and Suarez netted 21 and 31 league goals respectively in a thrilling spell.

“We hit it off instantly. [Same] wavelength,” Sturridge, who went on to be part of Jürgen Klopp’s Champions League-winning squad in 2019, told Sky Sports.

“We just had that thing where we knew where each other would be. It was a joy to play with him, I wish I could have played with him longer, to be honest, because it was only a season-and-a-half.

“Our partnership was almost like two players who had individual technical abilities to score goals on their own, but could also create for each other, and I think that’s what probably made us a good partnership.

“When we played a split diamond [midfield] I’d be all the way over on the right, he’d be all the way over on the left but we’d still look for each other or we’d cause the opposition more problems by doing that.

“We did [speak about it]. I’d have conversations like, ‘If I see you I’m going to play you [in], if you see me you play me in, round the box we make combinations, we’ve got to make things happen.’ That was our mentality.

“We know we have to score goals, that’s our job, so we’ve got to be as creative as we possibly can be. I’d be right wing, sometimes left wing, he’d be left wing, sometimes right wing, and one of us would be up front depending on the tactics that Brendan did.

“I felt like with our partnership it was different, and I do include [Raheem] Sterling into it as well, I think Raheem was pivotal in what we were doing at the time.

“With me and Suarez it was a case of two individual guys with technical abilities that when they combined were causing problems everywhere.”