Liverpool Must Play Raheem Sterling Up Front in Daniel Strurridge's Absence

As the dust settles on the news that Liverpool face another six weeks without Daniel Sturridge due to a thigh injury, Brendan Rodgers must find a solution to life without their key forward.

Indeed, it could be more than six weeks without Sturridge given his propensity for slow returns from injury, as detailed by The Times' Rory Smith (subscription required). Smith hints at a growing frustration among Rodgers and his staff over the 25-year-old's mentality regarding his injuries.

But Liverpool must move on and Rodgers' job is to find solutions to problems—something he failed to do during the 14 games so far without Sturridge.

The statistic about Liverpool's eight Premier League games without Sturridge yielding only eight points and eight goals is an alarming one, and shows just how badly Rodgers and his side have failed to cope without the England international.

Rodgers has, somewhat to the bemusement of Liverpool fans (and anybody who watched England at the World Cup), predominantly opted to play a 4-2-3-1 shape since Sturridge last featured for The Reds back in August.

The formation has seen Mario Balotelli cut an isolated figure up front, Jordan Henderson struggle in a deeper role, Steven Gerrard exploited by attacking midfielders, and Raheem Sterling wasted out wide.

It's all a far cry from the attacking, free-flowing football of last season, and indeed Liverpool's last game with Sturridge—at Tottenham Hotspur in a 3-0 win when Liverpool played the 4-1-2-1-2 (midfield diamond) with Sturridge alongside Balotelli.

Speaking after defeat to West Ham United back in September, Rodgers hinted at a change in formation (to 4-2-3-1) without Sturridge and then-injured midfielder Joe Allen, bemoaning the lack of "multifunctional players" (as per the Guardian).

That game against West Ham ended in a 3-1 defeat, but it was the last time Liverpool played with two up front; Balotelli and Fabio Borini, with Sterling in behind.

Sterling

It's no coincidence that since moving away from the diamond shape, Sterling—who is amazingly/worryingly Liverpool's top league goalscorer with three goals—hasn't found the net, or really any form.

His last goal was in that defeat at West Ham, having netted against Southampton and Tottenham too. Early form suggested that this would be the season Sterling pushed on and became a goalscorer as well as a creator in Liverpool's attack.

Three goals in those opening five starts was a sign that the 19-year-old would easily improve on the nine league goals he scored last season.

Alas, since then Sterling has suffered from the attention caused by Roy Hodgson's public embarrassment of the teenager, and struggled with life out wide in Rodgers' 4-2-3-1 system. He's looked far less threatening and far less influential as a result.

Anybody who saw the opening game of England's World Cup against Italy can recognise how Sterling is more effective in a central role. He was England's most impressive performer, playing up against Andrea Pirlo, in the first half—before Hodgson moved him wide to accommodate Wayne Rooney in a more central role and Sterling's influence diminished.

The same has happened at Liverpool in the last two months. Sterling is Liverpool's most creative and threatening forward, and he must be given a central role. He's also their most composed finisher when in on goal—something they clearly lack in Sturridge's absence.

Coutinho, Balotelli and Lallana

Playing Sterling up front alongside Balotelli would also heighten the chances of getting the best from the Italian—who has struggled with life as the solo forward but looked far better when paired with another.

Bizarrely, the only time Rodgers has tried Sterling alongside Balotelli up front was the first 25 minutes at home to Real Madrid—when the Reds looked threatening. That, though, was scrapped at 1-0 as Sterling dropped wider to try to block Madrid's midfield.

It would also allow Rodgers to play Philippe Coutinho or Adam Lallana at the point of the midfield diamond, to fully exert their creative influence on play. That Madrid game was one of Coutinho's better performances this season, as the "No. 10" at the top of the midfield.

The two shuttling midfielders in the diamond would be the choice of Henderson plus either Emre Can or Joe Allen, allowing Liverpool's midfield to control the game better and protect Gerrard in his deeper role.

Liverpool must return to what worked last season, return to basics, get the best from their key men—that's Sterling in a central role, Balotelli with someone alongside him, Coutinho as the creator and Can and Henderson protecting in midfield.