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Having missed out on facing Norwich due to a mild hamstring strain, Daniel Sturridge is expected to at the very least be fit enough to make the bench when Liverpool take on his former club this Sunday. It's a match that, if Liverpool win, keep them favourites for the title and needing only four points in their remaining two games to guarantee it. For Chelsea, a loss would render them mathematically incapable of winning the title, and a draw isn't much better. Or: it's kind of a big game.
For Sturridge, it's also a chance to remind his former employers just what they missed out on after Chelsea spent years relegating him to the bench or shuffling him out wide or sending him on loan, never giving him the consistent run at striker that has seen him blossom into England's best under Brendan Rodgers. Placed in a situation more conducive to his success, in 18 months at Liverpool he has made good on the promise that seemed lost by the end of his Chelsea days.
It all adds up to the potential for a bit of an awkward moment if he scores, though. And with 34 goals in 46 matches since arriving at Liverpool, more often than not Daniel Sturridge can be counted on to score goals. Players in situations as he might be often show respect to their former club and fans by keeping celebration restrained, but given his frustrating time in west London and just how much a goal could mean to Liverpool's title chances, even Sturridge isn't sure he could manage that.
"Hopefully this weekend I'll be back," said the striker when asked how he would deal with scoring against Chelsea if he's fit for the match—and according to most reports coming out of the club it's a near certainty he will be. "I'm not too sure if [Rodgers will] play me or not. We’ll have to see. I would like to show respect to my former club but if I were to come on and score in the last minute I'm going to be on a mad one, aren't I? I don't know if I could control myself if that happened."
Throw in an Anfield likely to be as loud as it's ever been on any famous European night and one can imagine it might not be an easy setting for him to remain calm in, particularly if he scores while Liverpool are attacking the Kop end. And of course, whether or not Sturridge chooses to celebrate against his former club, most Liverpool fans will be hoping he finds himself faced with that dilemma on Sunday afternoon.
