"He is a massive miss for me" - Daniel Sturridge claims Liverpool are missing player they sold in the summer

Former Premier League striker Daniel Sturridge has claimed that Liverpool are missing Luis Diaz. He believes that the Reds need a better left-winger than Cody Gakpo, and the signings have not filled the void left by the Colombian.

Speaking on Sky Sports after Liverpool's 2-1 loss to Chelsea, Sturridge said that the signings of Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz, and Hugo Ekitike have improved the attack. However, none of them are able to contribute defensively like Diaz, and the former striker believes it has become a big issue for Arne Slot's side and said:

“Luis Diaz is a massive miss for me. When we look at L'pool last year and how they used to press, I think he was arguably the one who would set the press in the front three. Szoboszlai in midfield was that person, but for me Luis Diaz, how tenacious he is on the ball, hungry to get the ball back for his team, interceptions, he brought something to L'pool Football Club that they are now missing. Isak, Ekitike, Wirtz, I’m not saying they don’t work hard, we can’t question Wirtz’s work rate or Isak and Ekitike’s quality. But they’re attack-minded players. I think Luis Diaz, he would sacrifice himself a little bit more defensively."

“That’s the one thing they have to figure out in attack, who’s going to give themselves up a little bit and say I’m maybe not searching for the numbers. There always has to be one guy in a front three who is not stats hungry. It’s important to understand which one is going to be our workhorse, which one is going to be our guy who we’re going to let do what he wants to do, and which one is going to be a hybrid of both. Right now I’m not sure the manager quite knows what he’s going to do with that.”

Liverpool sold Luis Diaz to Bayern Munich for a reported £65.5 million deal. They have been using Cody Gakpo as the main left-winger, with youngster Rio Ngumoha as the backup.

Liverpool star blasted by Gary Neville after Chelsea loss

Manchester United legend Gary Neville spoke on his podcast after Chelsea's 2-1 win over Liverpool, slamming Milos Kerkez for his performance. He believes that the left-back is looking like a youth team player now and said:

“The boy Kerkez, to be honest with you, at this point in time, he looks like a youth-team player."

Liverpool signed Kerkez from AFC Bournemouth this summer for a reported £40 million deal. He has been the starting left-back ahead of Andy Robertson.