It has not been a particularly straightforward start to the season for Daniel Sturridge.
Liverpool may be looking down at the rest of the Premier League after 11 matches, but the striker’s role in his team’s rise has been rather limited.
Sturridge, 27, has started only four Premier League games this season, and has been substituted in each one, while he failed to make it off the bench in victories over Crystal Palace and West Bromwich Albion.
Most concerning of all, the former Chelsea and Manchester City forward is without a goal in the league since April and has scored just 12 times in the same competition in the last two and a half years.
Jurgen Klopp’s preference for the more mobile and all-action Roberto Firmino has pushed Sturridge down the pecking order at Anfield, and his future at club level is uncertain as a result.
That is not the case on the international stage, though.
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Sturridge may have expected to again be excluded from the starting XI when England locked horns with Scotland on Friday in their World Cup qualifier, particularly as Harry Kane had made his comeback from seven weeks on the sidelines in Tottenham Hotspur’s 1-1 draw with arch rivals Arsenal last weekend.
Instead, interim manager Gareth Southgate retained faith in the forward who had spearheaded the attack in his two previous games in charge, a 2-0 win over Malta and a goalless draw with Slovenia.
That decision paid off handsomely. Sturridge broke the deadlock at a time when Gordon Strachan’s side were on top, stooping to head Kyle Walker’s fizzed delivery into the far corner. It was a fine finish that few players on the pitch could have replicated.
Scotland made a bright start at Wembley, initially pressing England high up the pitch and snapping into tackles in midfield, where the tenacious Scott Brown and Darren Fletcher were not shy in imposing their physicality on the game.
England were forced into several sloppy moments in the opening exchanges, with John Stones caught in possession twice and fellow central defender Gary Cahill also looking uncomfortable whenever he was closed down quickly.
England had problems playing out from the back throughout, with Scotland benefiting from multiple turnovers in advanced areas. Strachan’s side were never able to take full advantage, though. The visitors were guilty of poor decision-making in some instances, but what let them down most was their profligacy in front of goal.
While there was plenty in England’s performance that was far from perfect, that particular charge could not be levelled at them.
Sturridge, Adam Lallana and Cahill all did brilliantly to guide headed efforts past Craig Gordon, with the clinical edge of Southgate’s side inside the penalty area ultimately the difference.
Sturridge did not contribute a great deal outside of scoring the opener — it was in fact his only effort on goal — but that moment alone was another timely reminder of the fact that he is his country’s most reliable finisher and a player who still has plenty to offer in the right set-up.
It is difficult to see him getting back into the Liverpool team any time soon — although his ability cannot be denied, Firmino is clearly a better fit in such a fluid frontline — but Sturridge remains a key man for his country.
Southgate, who took a big step closer to landing the England job on a full-time basis after Friday’s convincing triumph, is unlikely to forget that in a hurry.
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