Sturridge Credits Coutinho for Scoring Form

With ten goals in less than half a season at Liverpool, Daniel Sturridge has made a massive impact since heading north from Chelsea's bench. As with any good striker, though, Sturridge knows he owes much of his recent success to the players around him. And in this case, to one player in particular: Philippe Coutinho.

"Philippe is such a quality player," Sturridge said of the man who has racked up five assists in the league since arriving from Inter in January alongside the ex-Chelsea man and was involved in two of his goals on Sunday. "He has created goals for me four or five times already since he has been here. It’s fantastic to be playing with someone of his calibre.

"I can’t praise him highly enough for what he’s shown. He has made my job very easy. He has been very unselfish. He has put me in on goal many times and it’s just fantastic to work with him."

Like Sturridge at Chelsea, Coutinho struggled to find consistent playing time in Italy despite looking set for greatness in his first season at the club and later while on loan in Spain with Espanyol. Now, with the pairing having arrived for around £20M combined, both have seized the opportunity to impress given new surroundings and regular minutes.

"Philippe is younger than me but he has a lot to prove just like I have," Sturridge added. "We have both come from big clubs where we haven’t had the opportunity to play week in week out. We are both hungry to show everybody what we are capable of doing.

"Coming to a new country and a different league, it’s very difficult to do what he has done in such a short space of time, but it’s great to see."

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