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There was no bear-hug from Jurgen Klopp , no high five and no hearty pat on the back.

When the fourth official showed the number 15 on 72 minutes, with the score tied at 1-1 with Tottenham on Saturday, Daniel Sturridge would take an age to leave the field.

Head-bowed, Sturridge trudged toward his manager, touched hands and sat down. Words were exchanged between the striker and fans sitting above the dugouts. Pep Lijnders would intervene and Sturridge would calm down, but it didn’t go unnoticed that the striker was visibly irritated by his manager’s decision.

Not that Klopp would mind.

The Reds boss admitted afterward that he was aware of Sturridge’s frustration, and that he wasn’t bothered by what he saw.

“I saw that he was not happy because I’m not blind,” said Klopp.

“I think that’s completely normal, especially with the quality of Daniel Sturridge. He has to think ‘leave me on the pitch and I can decide the game

“But that’s not a problem because if he came off and (celebrated) something would be really wrong.”

IN PICS: Liverpool draw 1-1 with Tottenham

Inspiration, not perspiration, is Sturridge's game

What Klopp may be bothered by however, will be the performances of his star striker on the pitch.

Indeed, while stewing on the substitutes bench throughout the final 18 minutes of the draw with Spurs, Sturridge will have done well to have kept an eye on his replacement, Divock Origi.

What Sturridge isn’t willing, or able, to do on the pitch is Origi’s bread and butter. A lost cause? There’s no such thing for the Belgian striker. He will run the channels, press defenders and drop deep in an attempt to get on the ball. He’s a youngster desperate to prove to Klopp, and the fans, that he deserves more playing time.

And the Kop responds to such effort. Origi’s name has rung out many times recently. A cult hero is being born.

For Sturridge, such play doesn’t come as naturally. Get him on the ball and his class is there for all to see. It was his pass that set-up Philippe Coutinho to score the opener on Saturday afternoon and, despite not yet looking his normal self, Sturridge has struck seven goals in 15 appearances this season. Not a bad record.

Inspiration, and not perspiration, is Sturridge’s forte - but whether that’s enough for Klopp remains to be seen.

It could be argued, of course, that Sturridge is not yet anywhere near peak fitness. 18 months of injuries will do that do you. The 26-year-old would perhaps be unwise to run himself into the ground.

It can also work both ways. Origi, for example, would happily drop deep to hunt for the ball when he came on on Saturday. Or he’d drift out wide in order to isolate defenders and create space for others.

But what if by doing that he’s sacrificing being in a goalscoring position? Origi has scored just five goals in 28 appearances for the Reds this term. He does, at times, lack the selfish streak required by the very best, After all, this is a man who was willing to give up his match ball at Southampton in order to let Alberto Moreno have the first goal.

Sturridge, meanwhile, has proven time and again he’s got the knack of being in the right place at the right time, but there were times on Saturday that he was all too willing to let his team-mates do the running for him.

For Klopp’s all action style, that simply will not do. Every player is expected to leave everything on the pitch. Hard work is the basis of his approach, the rewards come later.

The Aubameyang template?

Just ask Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, the man who is so looking forward to Klopp’s return to Dortmund on Thursday. The Gabon striker joined Klopp’s Dortmund for Saint-Etienne for £9.75m back in 2013 and, despite 16 and then 25 goals in his first two seasons at the club, all wasn’t well for Aubameyang at Dortmund.

Stuck out on the wing, the 26-year-old was far from happy at the Westfalenstadion - something had to give.

Eventually it was Klopp, who stepped down after seven years in charge and would later move to Anfield. Aubameyang would excel under new coach Thomas Tuchel, having already scored an eye-watering 36 goals this season. But you’d be wrong to think there are hard feelings between Aubameyang and his old boss, far from it in fact.

“We can show Klopp we have worked hard to get back to where we were and that we have progression. It will be a very difficult game, for sure, but we want to show Klopp that we are working very hard.

“I owe him a lot. It was great to work with him and he taught me many things. If I play like this as a striker now, it is because of him,” the striker said this week.

Sturridge, and indeed Origi, will both know that their current boss can do the same for them - that is, if they listen and learn from the man who not only helped Aubameyang, but also turned Robert Lewandowski from an unknown into one of the most menacing frontmen in Europe.

The duo can also learn from each other, Sturridge from Origi’s running and eagerness to sacrifice himself for the cause. Origi from Sturridge’s composure and positional play.

A comparison of notes is needed from the two strikers.

Perhaps the answer for Klopp eventually is to combine the two. Sturridge, after all, was at his very best for the Reds in 2013/14, when partnered with Luis Suarez. The England man would often benefit from Suarez’s extreme work-rate, and it would also allow Sturridge to influence the game from wide areas.

When Suarez returned from a ban for biting against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light that year, Reds fans witnessed the ‘SAS’ at their very best, the duo setting each other up for a goal each.

It was a similar story at Southampton in the Capital One Cup earlier this season, when the combination of Sturridge and Origi terrorised the Saints back-line. The two men dovetailed perfectly, and in doing so we saw the very best of what both players had to offer.

For now though, if Sturridge wants to ward off the fourth official’s board more often he’d better take a leaf out of the man waiting in the wings to replace him.

He must prove the he’s happy to perspire for Klopp in order to inspire the Reds.