Daniel Sturridge Proves His Worth as a Striker in Liverpool's Win over Leicester

In a performance worthy of Anfield's newly expanded Main Stand, Liverpool mauled Premier League champions Leicester City on Saturday evening, sealing a 4-1 victory in their first home game of the season.

In front of 53,075 supporters, the most at Anfield since 1977, Jurgen Klopp's side produced an emphatic attacking display, swarming over Claudio Ranieri's Foxes throughout, quelling pre-match fears that Leicester's counter-attacking quality would spoil the party.

Two goals from Roberto Firmino came on either side of strikes from Adam Lallana and Sadio Mane, as the Reds broke the 100-goal barrier since Klopp's appointment as manager in October—netting 101 times in 57 games across the Premier League, the UEFA Europa League, the FA Cup and the EFL Cup.

With only Jamie Vardy's first-half strike dampening spirits at Liverpool's home stadium, this was a performance of true excellence—as Ranieri told BT Sport (h/t the Press Association, via This Is Anfield) after the game:

"

Liverpool deserved to win. We were waiting for this type of football, very aggressive.

We were okay after the first 10 minutes before they scored the goal, but after that we lose everything.

We lost the first ball, the second ball. They were unstoppable.

They deserved to win because they created so many more chances than us.

"

But while Firmino, Lallana and Mane took the plaudits for their efforts in front of goal—with This Is Anfield's Henry Jackson highlighting the former as his star performer, saying "nothing caught the eye quite like Firmino’s effortless genius"—one player deserves major credit for his role in dismantling the champions.

It was Daniel Sturridge, restored to his favoured role at the tip of Liverpool's attack, whose quietly influential brilliance fuelled the Reds' victory, with the No. 15 responding to recent criticism with a nuanced showing that highlighted his importance.

Michael Regan/Getty Images

"It's about our performance on the pitch, we don't expect the fans to come here and celebrate themselves, we want to inspire our supporters with our play," Klopp told club luminaries and reporters, including Goal.com's Melissa Reddy, at the new-look Anfield's unveiling on Friday.

"It's against the current champions so we need to be good. Let's try it, let's take the first step in our future together. We have to use the quality of the players, the power of the club and the power of our supporters."

Lining his side up with a bold, attacking outlook on Saturday, Klopp reinforced his approach, utilising his now-customary 4-3-3 formation to counter the threat of Ranieri's Foxes:

This Is Anfield

Though summer signing Loris Karius was fit to start after recovering from a broken hand, Klopp kept his faith in goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, with the Belgian operating behind a back four of Nathaniel Clyne, James Milner, home debutant Joel Matip and Lucas Leiva, filling in for injured centre-back Dejan Lovren.

With Emre Can also sidelined with an ankle problem, Jordan Henderson filled in at the base of Klopp's three-man midfield, flanked by Lallana and £25 million recruit Georginio Wijnaldum.

PAUL ELLIS/Getty Images

Lallana and Wijnaldum were tasked with providing support for the forward line in their box-to-box roles, while Henderson was utilised in a more disciplined duty, breaking up Leicester attacks and dictating play from deep.

The roving duo pushed ahead to interchange with Firmino, Mane and Sturridge, but while four of this five-strong attacking unit was the same as in August's 2-0 defeat away to Burnley—with Mane's absence that day catered for by the inclusion of Philippe Coutinho—there was one major difference on Saturday.

At Turf Moor, Sturridge was fielded on the right wing and struggled to impose himself; under the Main Stand lights at Anfield, Sturridge took up his natural position up front, and this proved central to the Reds' success.

Mark Runnacles/Getty Images

In a candid interview conducted towards the end of August, Sturridge told reporters of his discontent in playing as a winger for Liverpool, defiantly stressing that "everyone knows where I enjoy playing the most":

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Of course it is more difficult for me to play wide. I'm a centre-forward. In the modern day game you have to try and be flexible but everyone knows my best position.

Everyone knows where I enjoy playing the most. I'm a player who plays on instinct, and in the middle I have clarity on movements and things that I have been doing for years. I am on autopilot there. You just do things because you are used to doing it.

But when you are out wide, you have got to worry about different things. It's just a different way. The way you move, the way you play - it is all different. You can't play the same as you do as a centre-forward.

"

While the 27-year-old also emphasised that "I have to do a job for the team," even if that is on the flanks, as he continued to explain "that's not saying I am happy to do it," it was clear that Sturridge felt he couldn't produce his best out wide.

This led to criticism of the No. 15's commitment, with the Mirror's Jim Boardman among those to paint Sturridge as more selfish than selfless:

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All strikers have to be selfish but the best strikers know that the team comes first and act accordingly, passing if that is a better option than having a crack themselves or trying to go round two defenders on their own.

Sturridge is more likely to ignore a team mate in acres of space than find him, instead running down a blind alley to fashion a chance for himself and then leaving his colleagues to chase the possession he's just lost, the opportunity to score quickly becoming the danger of conceding.

"

In Boardman's depiction, Sturridge is the archetypal greedy centre-forward, and this jars with Klopp's vision of a collective effort from the Reds. However, given the opportunity to prove himself in the focal role in attack on Saturday, Sturridge proved this not to be the case.

Michael Regan/Getty Images

Analysing the striker's contribution to Firmino's opener, for example, showcased a refined, intelligent approach from Sturridge, dragging Danny Simpson, Wes Morgan and Daniel Amartey out of the Brazilian's path with a diagonal run, allowing him to latch onto Milner's pass, turn Robert Huth and fire home.

Sturridge turned direct provider for Liverpool's second, laying the ball into Mane's path with a deft back-heel, allowing the Senegalese to lift the ball over Kasper Schmeichel to make it 2-0, earning the seal of approval from the Liverpool Echo's James Pearce:

These two examples were characteristic of Sturridge's performance—fluid, willing and altruistic—and while the former Chelsea star failed to get himself on the scoresheet, his influence was just as significant as Firmino, Mane or Lallana.

If any proof was needed of Sturridge's ability in front of goal, a video package released by the club on the striker's birthday on September, showcasing his 10 best league strikes in a Liverpool shirt, served to provide this:

According to club statistician Ged Rea, of the 101 goals scored by the Reds since Klopp's arrival at the club, only Firmino (14) has contributed a bigger portion than Sturridge, who is level with Coutinho on 13.

But showcasing his ability to mesh in a more team-focussed approach as a centre-forward in Saturday's win over Leicester, he proved he is more than just a goalscorer; just as he did in a top-level showing away to Bournemouth in April.

Sturridge is very much a striker, and on top form he is among the best in world football—as his record of 55 goals in 96 games for the Reds highlights—and this should remain the role he plays under Klopp at Liverpool.

Jack Lusby will be covering Liverpool throughout 2016/17 as one of Bleacher Report's lead correspondents. Statistics via LFCHistory.net, quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

Follow Jack on Twitter @jacklusby_ and Facebook here.