Despite finding the back of the net in Liverpool's 2-1 defeat to Manchester United on Sunday, it seems that some are still unconvinced that Sturridge will be able to re-discover his sparkling form of last season
It was astonishing season which saw him net an astonishing 21 goals, finishing runner-up in the Premier League's Golden Boot table just behind teammate Luis Suarez and nominated in the PFA Team of the Year.
However, a succession of calf and thigh injuries have stalled the Englishman's return to Premier League action and he has scored just four league goals this season.
His lack of goals has prompted some to suggest that the striker be dropped for the remainder of the season, with Raheem Sterling favoured to start in a more central attacking role as he did during Sturridge's injury lay-off.
Nevertheless, former Reds striker Robbie Fowler has backed Brendan Rodgers to persist with Sturridge in a recent interview with the Liverpool Echo.
“What happens is when you first come back into the side, you get by on adrenalin. And then all of a sudden it just hits you. You are playing catch-up. He missed a lot of games and he looked sharp and looked good when he came back."
“But then there’s that little bit of a momentum loss. He’s not playing as well as he would like but you know what – he’s still scoring goals."
However, the Reds legend has also admitted that Sturridge has struggled to replicate the mesmerising form of last season.
“His movement and sharpness is probably not what it was when he first came back but he’ll get it right."
For the former striker, it is just a question of time and confidence before the Englishman is back firing goals left, right and centre. This will certainly come as a huge relief to Liverpool fans as they learn that they will be missing skipper Steven Gerrard and veteran defender Martin Skrtel for their next three games, one of which is against top-four rivals Arsenal.
If the Reds are to have any hope of qualifying for next season's Champions League, they would need their main man Sturridge to rediscover the scintillating form of last season which made him a constant threat and a nightmare to defend against.
In the same interview with the Liverpool Echo, Fowler has also urged Sturridge's teammates to spread out the burden of providing goals to alleviate the pressure on the striker's shoulders.
“Because I’m a forward I think it’s not just about him. We shouldn’t be putting pressure on Daniel to score goals, we need other players to weigh in as well.
“We need the Raheems to score, we need the Coutinhos to score – he’s obviously doing very well at the minute – we need other players as well.
“You want all your team to defend but you want all your team to weigh in with some goals as well, I think that’s probably what we want more than anything."
Certainly, it would appear that with the departure of leading goalscorer Luiz Suarez to Barcelona, a lot of expectation has been placed on the shoulders of Sturridge to succeed the Uruguayan as the club's main attacking threat.
However, with Raheem Sterling currently suffering from a dip in form with a mere 6 goals this campaign, it appears unlikely that the pressure on Sturridge will easy any time soon, despite Fowler's best efforts.
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