Jürgen Klopp has said Daniel Sturridge’s shortage of goals and confidence can be “a good moment” in the Liverpool striker’s career given that he must fight his way back into form.

Sturridge has not scored in the Premier League this season and could be back on the bench for West Bromwich Albion’s visit to Anfield on Saturday after a frustrating display against Manchester United. The England international started the goalless draw on Monday when Philippe Coutinho dropped into central midfield in the absence of Adam Lallana and Georginio Wijnaldum. But with the midfielders in contention for the visit of Tony Pulis’s team, and Liverpool’s strongest spell against United arriving when Roberto Firmino replaced Sturridge as the central striker, the 27-year-old faces fierce competition for a starting role.

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Klopp accepts this is a testing period for a forward whose only goals at club level this season came at Burton Albion in the EFL Cup. But, drawing comparisons with players such as Robert Lewandowski and Gerd Müller, he believes it can prove beneficial to Sturridge in the long term.

The Liverpool manager, who insists the United performance will not influence his selection against West Brom, said: “I think this is a good moment for Dan. It is not easy for him. Most of his time in his life football has been so easy because he is so skilled. The right moment, easy goal, simple goal. The job to do for him, for all of us, before he ends his career is not to think about when he had a moment like this.”

Klopp added: “Daniel is hard-working, he is fit, he is doing what all players have to do in the moments like this when it doesn’t quite go for you: keep working. You can’t do a bicycle kick or what Jamie Vardy did last year. His shot when we thought he had to run another 20 yards and then boop! Goal! Sometimes it works. We have to work on this together. He didn’t score, that is the truth, but he had some really good games for us. That is also the truth. For me the [Sadio Mané] goal against Leicester was the goal of the season so far. It was the kind of movement that we have been working so hard on, then you see it come off. He [Sturridge] makes this way, out of the box, to take two defenders with him and then it opens everything. It is a sign of development. So I’m fine with it.”

The Liverpool manager admitted he remained in awe of Sturridge’s finishing in training but, while that has yet to transfer into Premier League matches this season, he has no plans to speak to the striker over his current frustrations. “I don’t have to,” said Klopp. “It’s like when you have a problem, you don’t want someone coming up to you all the time, tapping your shoulder and saying: ‘Hey, it’s all right! You can do it!’ I respect these guys. I know they know. So let’s go through it.

“If we had a shooting exercise now, there would be tears in your eyes when you see him. You are like: ‘That is unbelievable!’ But then you see the games. There are moments when you think he should score and he doesn’t but you have to carry on. It is a very useful moment in his career. A big name … Lewandowski. There were times when he didn’t score. Gerd Müller. There were games he didn’t score. I still can’t believe that. You look back on his career and he scored 600 times but there were moments when he didn’t score. It is only about handling situations like this. It is not to make a big thing about it.”