Does Burnley Striker Danny Ings Have the Quality to Improve Liverpool?

At the weekend the Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers set up his side without a recognised striker to secure an impressive 2-1 win over the reigning Premier League champions Manchester City.

Despite having a stable of four established international strikers Rodgers opted to start with Raheem Sterling up front on his own. 

Mario Balotelli, Rickie Lambert and Fabio Borini were all forced to watch from the bench as unused substitutes, while Daniel Sturridge was afforded only 14 minutes on the pitch.

It was an impressive show of strength from Rodgers to overcome City without using any of these strikers from the start.

But while deploying Sterling as a lone striker in front of the fluid movement of Philippe Coutinho and Adam Lallana worked well, it shouldn’t be a template for how Liverpool set up every week. 

Last season’s Premier League title challenge was built on an avalanche of goals after Liverpool scored 101 in 38 games.

The partnership of Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge accounted for just over half of these goals; Suarez scored 31, while Sturridge contributed 21 in the Premier League.

This season Liverpool’s goals total has sharply declined, and after 27 games they have scored just 40 goals, only one more than West Ham down in ninth in the table.

If Liverpool were to continue scoring at this pedestrian rate for the rest of the season, they would finish with a total of just 56 goals.

The departure of Luis Suarez to Barcelona last summer and the prolonged injury lay-offs of Daniel Sturridge this season are the obvious reasons. 

Again Rodgers has done well to absorb these absences and keep Liverpool competitive, and on course for possibly both a top-four finish and an FA Cup final appearance.

But it is an issue he needs to address this summer if he wants Liverpool to be chasing titles again and not just top-four finishes.

The signing of Mario Balotelli was a curious and obvious mistake from Rodgers, for as the Italian has shown over the last six months he has neither the energy nor movement to prosper at Liverpool.

Rickie Lambert might have enjoyed his homecoming, but he was never going to be more than an impact substitute, and Fabio Borini has never looked comfortable at Anfield.

All three are likely to leave the club in the summer as Rodgers looks to replenish his collection of strikers.

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During the January transfer window Liverpool were heavily linked with Burnley’s in form striker Danny Ings, but does he have the quality to improve Liverpool next season?

Ings has obvious potential, but Liverpool should exercise caution before bringing him to Anfield.

The striker has so far enjoyed a fine debut season in the Premier League by contributing nine goals to Burnley’s battle against relegation. 

But he shouldn’t solely be judged on his healthy goals return because he also offers so much more up front.

The striker can win the ball high up the pitch and look after it; he’s strong, quick, has two good feet and can run with the ball.

His energy and movement will also greatly appeal to Rodgers.

At only 22 he is a player the Liverpool manager could help mould, and help him to realise his potential.   

But Rodgers would also be right to be circumspect about a player who has spent the vast majority of his career in the lower leagues. 

Before scoring 21 goals in 40 games as Burnley clinched promotion from the Championship, last season his largest return in a single season had been just seven goals for Bournemouth in League One. The season before last he managed three goals in 32 Championship games for Burnley.

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As well as Ings has performed this season, Liverpool don’t want to be saddled with a striker enduring a difficult second season in the top flight after his novelty and shock value have faded.

In the 2011-12 season Danny Graham, who had also spent most of his career in the lower leagues, scored 12 goals for Swansea City in his first full season in the Premier League.

This encouraged Sunderland to spend £5 million on him in January 2013, but two years later he has failed to score a single goal for them, and been shifted out on loan three times to Hull City, Middlesbrough and Wolves.

Another lower-league striker Grant Holt also enjoyed a hugely prolific season when he arrived in the Premier League by scoring 15 goals for Norwich City in 2011-12, but that dropped to eight the next season, and since then he has toiled without much success back in the lower leagues.

A striker graduating from the lower leagues can cause a surprise in his debut season in the top flight, but once managers and defenders get used to them, it becomes more difficult. 

There is a risk Liverpool could be lumbered with another example of this if they take on Ings this summer.

The overwhelming attraction of Ings is he will be relatively cheap. His contract expires this summer, but any buying club will still need to pay Burnley compensation, estimated to be around £6 million, which is still way below his current market value. 

At this price it might be worth Liverpool taking a chance.

The Belgian striker Divock Origi, signed last year will arrive in the summer, and so if Liverpool were to also sign Ings, they would still need another striker who offers a more reliable source of goals.

A striking stable of Sturridge, Origi and Ings would be promising, but there still remains a Suarez-shaped hole in the Liverpool front line after Balotelli resoundingly failed to be the prolific striker Liverpool needed.

Danny Ings could be an asset to Brendan Rodgers, but the improvement of Liverpool’s forward line should not stop with him.