Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge has spoken about how he and Mario Balotelli could be play together and form an effective strike partnership. The England striker also believes that Liverpool fans will finally start to see the best of the former AC Milan player, now that he has finally got his first Premier League goal for the club.
Balotelli grabbed his first league goal since his A?16m summer move from Milan against Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday night, a goal of huge importance as it was the late winner for the the Reds and the goal that defeated Spurs 3-2 at Anfield.
a It was important for Mario,a Sturridge said.
a Hea s been waiting for a while to break his duck and been working very hard in training, and now he has scored one in the league I am sure things will start to go his way now.
a Ita s not easy to settle into a new team, a new area, a new lifestyle, with different people around you and so on and so forth. People dona t ever take that into account. I try to do my bit (to help him), although Ia m not taking any credit for him scoring against Spurs a Ia m just happy he did!a
Sturridge and Balotelli have only played together, once for the side. It was back in August when Balotelli made his debut for Liverpool against Tottenham at White Hart Lane back in August. It was the last game Sturridge played for the Merseyside club before getting injured for five months and there were signs of a partnership that day.
a Of course we can get a good understanding going,a he said.
a Ia d say I can play with any player not just Mario. Whatever team the manager chooses to put out I will do my best, whoever I have a partnership with. I try to adapt to whoever I am playing with and bring out the best in each other, and we (me and Mario) click when we are playing together.
a I like playing with a partner, but I also like playing on my own. It is down to whatever the manager chooses but it is important, whoever I am playing with, to help them play well. It is not just about me trying to do what I do.
a In the Tottenham game (in August) I played a little bit different to how I did on Tuesday night because I know how (Philippe) Coutinho plays and he likes to thread balls through so I have to play on the shoulder a bit more.
a With Mario I can move around and go into wide areas because I know he will occupy the centre-halves. It is different, you play differently with different players and I am sure we will strike up a partnership in the future, I have no doubts about that.a