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Daniel Sturridge shows his importance to Liverpool in Aston Villa comeback

Daniel Sturridge of Liverpool

Daniel Sturridge showed his importance to Liverpool with a goalscoring return to the side in their 6-0 demolition of Aston Villa on Super Sunday.

Liverpool hit Villa for six
Liverpool hit Villa for six

Six different goalscorers helped Liverpool to a rampant 6-0 win at bottom side Aston Villa.

The injury-plagued striker was making his first start since since the beginning of December, when he scored a brace in a 6-1 thrashing of Southampton in the Capital One Cup.

At a sun-drenched Villa Park, it only took him 16 minutes to head home Liverpool's opener. It was his third league goal of the campaign and his 37th in 60 appearances since his arrival from Chelsea in January 2013.

Sturridge's minutes per goal ratio of 117.6 is the best of any Liverpool player in Premier League history, putting him ahead of the likes of Fernando Torres (121.3 minutes per goal), Luis Suarez (138.8 minutes per goal) and Michael Owen (142.58 minutes per goal).

Top minutes per goal ratios for Liverpool in the Premier League

Player Goals Minutes per goal
Daniel Sturridge 38 117.6
Fernando Torres 65 121.3
Luis Suarez 69 138.8
Michael Owen 118 142.6
Robbie Fowler 128 158.3
Stan Collymore 26 185.4
Djibril Cisse 13 203.1

The remarkable numbers highlight just how much of a headache his injury problems have been for Jurgen Klopp this season, and Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher feels the 26-year-old makes all the difference to the Reds.

Klopp: A perfect day
Klopp: A perfect day

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp hailed the 6-0 Super Sunday win over Aston Villa as "the perfect day"

"With Coutinho and Sturridge in the team, they would be challenging for top four positions," said the former centre-back. "But they're in mid-table because you haven't got those two playing every week. You can see from the first goal how instrumental the two of them are."

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Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was full of praise for his team after they thrashed Aston Villa 6-0 on Super Sunday

"Brendan Rodgers could look back and say the injuries to Daniel Sturridge maybe cost him his job. That's how much he elevates this Liverpool team. Without him and Coutinho it's an average team and we've been watching that for the last few months."

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Image: Jurgen Klopp congratulates Daniel Sturridge as he leaves the pitch at Villa Park

"We were expecting Klopp to come in and make a difference, but I think he said in the week he's not David Copperfield," added Carragher. "You need top players. They haven't got that many of them, but the one true one they have is too injury-prone and that's the problem for them. If they can keep him fit between now and the end of the season you'd expect a good run."

Brendan Rodgers could look back and say the injuries to Daniel Sturridge maybe cost him his job. That's how much he elevates this Liverpool team.
Jamie Carragher

The top four may already be out of reach for Liverpool, but Sturridge's scoring exploits suggest he could have a major role to play in how they finish the campaign.

How important do you think Sturridge is to Liverpool? Leave a comment below or tweet us @SkyFootball.

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