• Premier League

Suarez could leave Liverpool - Sturridge

Daniel Sturridge is desperate for Luis Suarez to stay at Liverpool - but has admitted to the possibility that his strike partner will eventually move on.

The two strikers have flourished in attack this season, scoring 16 goals between them to help Liverpool to third place in the Premier League.

Suarez has scored six times in six matches since returning from a 10-game domestic ban imposed in April for biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic.

He told French radio on Monday that he has put behind him the saga of his failed summer attempt to secure a move away from Anfield, and is focused on trying to help Liverpool to their first league title since 1990.

The 26-year-old has also dismissed speculation linking him with a move to Real Madrid.

But Sturridge, who has 10 goals in all competitions this season, is aware that top European clubs will be monitoring Suarez with a view to prising him away from Merseyside.

Sturridge, 24, told the Liverpool Daily Post: "Everyone wants Luis to stay at the club. It's up to Luis to decide what he wants to do. If he believes it's best for him to move on, then that's the way it's got to be.

"But the club, the players and the fans all want him to stay and I'm sure he will."

Sturridge, the Premier League's joint leading scorer with eight goals, says he is thriving alongside Suarez in a partnership nicknamed the 'SAS' by fans after the British Army's Special Air Service unit, famed for carrying out difficult and high-risk missions.

He said: "It's great to play with Luis. We give defenders problems and we're both different. It's good to have a strike partner you can bounce off.

"We get on well and that's the most important thing. There is no rivalry there, no hidden agendas. We both go out and work hard to help the team. It's not about the SAS strikeforce, it's about the team.

"The players behind us work so hard they make our jobs easy really. We just try to do what we do best."

Sturridge, meanwhile, has declared that Liverpool are genuine title contenders after collecting 20 points from their opening 10 games.

Brendan Rodgers' side are one of a clutch of teams tucked in behind Arsenal, who have a five-point lead at the top of the Premier League after beating Liverpool 2-0 at The Emirates on Saturday.

Sturridge said: "It's been an amazing start for us.

"We just need to continue working hard and continue doing what the manager tells us to do and see where we end up at the end of the season.

"I wouldn't say there is one definitive team in the league who are going to be favourites to win it. Everyone in the top six is in the race. There are a lot of teams playing amazing football, including Southampton who are up there.

"We'll just stay focused on ourselves and try our best to play good football."

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