Brendan Rodgers Must Work Out How Daniel Sturridge Fits into His Liverpool Team

The return of Daniel Sturridge to fitness after nearly five months out is, of course, excellent news for Liverpool and their manager, Brendan Rodgers.

The side have lacked the flair and speed that characterised their remarkable tilt at the league title last season, and while much of that is down to the departure of Luis Suarez, losing Sturridge for such a long spell has been an enormous factor as well.

At times this term, Liverpool have looked tentative in front of goal, unwilling or perhaps even unable to shoot when given the chance, and their goals total of 31 from 22 games is positively anaemic compared to last season's tally (101 in total) and also 20 behind league leaders Chelsea.

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On Saturday against Bolton in the FA Cup, despite facing a fine performance from Trotters 'keeper Adam Bogdan, Liverpool were crying out for a natural finisher, which Sturridge most certainly has turned into.

Therefore, Sturridge could be the sort of catalyst that Rodgers has been waiting for, and the striker could even be involved as soon as Tuesday night as they visit Chelsea for the second leg of their Capital One Cup semi-final.

Rodgers said on Monday, via the official Liverpool website: "He had a training session with the team yesterday and he trained very, very well. It was as comfortable as he's looked, even when he was coming back before - he was maybe a little bit tentative. I thought yesterday he looked back to normal."

However, it perhaps won't be as simple as just slotting him back into the team. In his absence, Rodgers has constructed a 3-4-3 system designed to place Raheem Sterling at the centre of everything, to make the most of their most dangerous player when Sturridge isn't available.

It's worked, to an extent, with Sterling putting in some fine displays, but equally the approach has its limitations, not least elsewhere in the side.

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The formation has resulted in players being shoehorned into the starting XI in positions that are not their best, specifically Jordan Henderson and Lazar Markovic as wing-backs, or Emre Can as one of three central defenders.

Still, it's tough to argue with the results. The formation was first deployed against Manchester United in December, and while Liverpool lost that game, they haven't been defeated in the 10 games in all competitions since. And while a couple of the draws in that sequence (notably against Leicester City) have been disappointing, this is by a distance their best run of the season.

The good news is that Sturridge is flexible enough to play a wide role, as he did earlier in his career with Chelsea, but he is most effectively deployed as a centre-forward. Equally, Sterling is by trade a winger, so obviously he can perform on the flanks, but this upsurge in form has been with the youngster through the middle.

So who will Rodgers choose? One way around this problem was perhaps trialled against Bolton, with Philippe Coutinho and Adam Lallana playing slightly narrower roles behind Sterling, not as true wingers but as interchangeable No. 10s.

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This is easily something that Sterling could perform, dropping a little deeper and allowing Sturridge to be their centre-forward, but staying in the centre where he has been so effective. It's a flexible system too, with whoever plays behind Sturridge able to move to the flanks should that be required.

Another option could be to revert to the 4-3-3 that was so effective last season, with Sterling taking on the "Suarez" role and Coutinho, Lallana or even the lesser-spotted Mario Balotelli joining them up front.

Or perhaps a midfield diamond, with Lucas Leiva at the base, Sterling at the point, and Sturridge and Balotelli as a striking pair.

The important thing for Liverpool is that their most potent goal threat is back, and really any way to get him into the team is crucial. It's now up to Rodgers to work out how.