The Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge has compared the tension around their Europa League quarter-final second-leg against Borussia Dortmund to the experience of playing the Fifa 16 video game.

The quarter-final is delicately poised at 1-1 before Thursday’s game, meaning Dortmund have to score – a challenge unlikely to faze a side which has found the net 119 times already this season.

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“It’s like when you’re playing a final on Fifa and you’re playing against your mate. You’ve all put £20 in the middle and there’s £100,” Sturridge told the club’s website.

“The pressure’s on, your palms are sweaty, but as you get into the game, the nerves go away and you enjoy it – and that’s exactly what it’s like. It’s going to be a great occasion, not just for the players but the fans, for everyone who isn’t involved with Liverpool as well – they’ll enjoy the match.

“It’s one of those occasions where you just soak it all up, enjoy it, embrace it, have fun; that’s what you live for. It’s just going to be a great night for everyone, and you can’t let nerves get the better of you.”

Despite now being injury-free and in form – with three goals in his last five starts, and 48 goals in 84 appearances – Sturridge is not guaranteed to be in the starting line-up, having been left on the bench in Germany.

“I know I can perform a lot better than I am now but it’s just that fitness and the repetition of playing 90 minutes is important as well. It’s never easy to score in every game so I can’t really set myself that standard but I think being better than one in two is where you want to really be at.

“One in two is a good strike rate but I’m hard on myself so I don’t want to settle for that.”