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"There's no real secret," insisted Luis Suarez' answer when asked what the key was to his success alongside strike partner Daniel Sturridge, with England's most dangerous attacking duo on the verge of returning Liverpool to the Champions League for the first time in five years. "The best thing is that defences aren't only looking at what [I'm] doing. We create space for each other, and for our teammates to take advantage of. If we're marked, then it means someone else isn't."
Combined, the duo have accounted for 42 goals and 15 assists, while Suarez leads the Premier League in both with 24 goals and 10 assists. While much of the focus is on the fact Suarez and Sturridge have single-handedly outscored 15 other sides, it hasn't just been the strikers scoring. The rest of the team has chipped in with 31 goals, good enough to put Liverpool tenth in goals scored even with their strikers taken out of the equation.
As phenomenal as both Suarez and Sturridge have been, and even with Suarez in the form of his career, this isn't a side that has relied exclusively on the heroics of one or two players for their attacking successes. The individual heroics of Suarez and Sturridge, though, are what have made the difference between this being a good side in the conversation for the top four and one that's all but locked up Champions League qualification and is now a dark horse for the title.
About the only question left is whether Suarez and Sturridge can continue to deliver over the final games of the season as they have for so much of the year. Some might worry about defenders beginning to find ways to shut the pair down, but Suarez at least isn't concerned—defenders have known what he likes to do for quite some time now, and it hasn't stopped him yet.
"A lot of defenders know what I'm going to do now, so they try to protect themselves," added Suarez. "But I do it anyway. Against West Brom, I faced my national team captain, Diego Lugano. In the tunnel, he laughed [and said], 'You'll never do it to me.' I did nutmeg him later on, but one of his teammates got the ball on the other side. We'll call it a draw."
