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Why was Daniel Sturridge left on the bench against Villarreal?

Substitute Daniel Sturridge of Liverpool walks to the bench past Jurgen Klopp v Newcastle, Premier League, December 6, 2015

Liverpool have work to do after losing 1-0 to a late Villarreal goal in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final at El Madrigal. Will Jurgen Klopp rue his decision to leave Daniel Sturridge on the bench?

Liverpool beaten late in Spain
Liverpool beaten late in Spain

Adrian Lopez's injury-time goal gave Villarreal a 1-0 victory over Liverpool.

At least Christian Benteke got four minutes. That's twice as many as Daniel Sturridge needed to score in his last outing against Newcastle at the weekend. But the Liverpool striker didn't even get that as his team went down 1-0 to a stoppage-time goal by Villarreal in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final. Despite Jurgen Klopp's popularity with supporters, it was a debatable call.

Liverpool are left without an away goal going into the second leg at Anfield next week. For all the drama of their win over Borussia Dortmund in the quarter-finals, they did at least have one then. A sensational 4-3 home victory won't be enough this time, so the feeling that Klopp could regret not turning to his most effective goalscorer is likely to linger.

Premier League strike rates

Player Club Goals (min 6) Mins per goal
Sergio Aguero Man City 23 95
Daniel Sturridge Liverpool 8 100
Andy Carroll West Ham 9 122
Harry Kane Tottenham 24 129
Jamie Vardy Leicester 22 134

Only Sergio Aguero has a better strike rate than Sturridge in the Premier League this season. He's in form too. As well as the early goal against Newcastle, the England international has also found the net against Stoke, Bournemouth and Everton this month alone. He's fit and appeared to have the manager's backing given the injury to Divock Origi in the Merseyside derby. 

Klopp recently defended Sturridge's work rate even when he's not succeeded in getting on the scoresheet, stressing that his demands on strikers are not necessarily for them to be "defending like I don't know what" but merely that they show "smart behaviour" in "closing the gaps". He added: "When Daniel was fit I was always happy with his performance."

Daniel Sturridge returned as a second-half substitute against West Ham
Image: Klopp favoured a fluid forward line rather than his star striker

But Klopp still opted for a more fluid forward line with Roberto Firmino supported by Philippe Coutinho and Adam Lallana. That system did for Manchester City in a 4-1 win at the Etihad Stadium earlier this season. But that was five months ago. "How long before people stop saying this front three played away at City?" asked Jamie Carragher on Twitter. "Sturridge has got to come into the equation."

Klopp's reasoning was tactical rather than as a result of any injury doubts over his striker. He explained before the match that his preference for the "stability" gained by being able to switch between a 4-3-3 and a diamond formation led him to put his trust in the players who were more familiar with their roles in that system.

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Image: What will Klopp's plans be for Sturridge at Liverpool next season?

He may well feel that his Liverpool players came close to justifying the decision, but the move is now under the spotlight and it raises issues about Sturridge's status at Liverpool. Will the manager continue to favour this fluidity in the biggest matches? Does he feel Sturridge is not ideally equipped to flourish in such a system? These are decisions that Sturridge and others will want answering.

For while it's a situation that presents problems for a player who has scored 51 goals in 88 appearances for Liverpool, it's also an issue for Klopp. The manager will seek to tweak his playing squad in the summer but he must also make the most of the tools available to him and replacing Sturridge with a different type of player of similar quality will not be straightforward.

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Klopp might well prefer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang but it's optimistic to suppose he can convince the Borussia Dortmund striker to sign, while there's no prospect of seeing Robert Lewandowski in a Liverpool shirt any time soon. Instead, there's an onus on Klopp to adapt to the best players at his disposal. He'll need Sturridge next week. Whether he wants him to be the main man next season is not yet clear. 

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