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Jurgen Klopp believes Daniel Sturridge is in the perfect shape to help fire Liverpool into the Champions League.

The Reds boss is considering handing the England international his first Premier League start for four months in Sunday’s showdown with West Ham at the London Stadium.

Sturridge has endured another injury-plagued campaign and faces an uncertain future at Anfield. He hasn’t started in the top-flight or found the net since January’s 2-2 draw at Sunderland - going 11 appearances in all competitions without a goal.

However, after two lively substitute outings against Watford and Southampton, Klopp admits he has staked a strong claim for a bigger role against the Hammers.

“For me, there was not a second of doubt about Daniel Sturridge,” Klopp said.

“For all of us, it was unlucky that at important moments he was not available. That was not his fault. It was not my fault. It was only the situation.

“I only think about now at this moment and I trust him 100%. He’s an instinctive footballer and a fantastic striker.

“For us, it’s good news that he’s now available. Three or four weeks ago, I was not sure that it would happen. Now he’s there, and that’s all good.”

Sturridge has been a man for the big occasion during his four-and-a-half year spell with the Reds and the stakes will certainly be high in the capital. His quality in the final third against a Hammers backline who have kept four clean sheets in five matches could be crucial.

“I’d love that to happen, but it doesn’t happen just because I speak about it,” Klopp said.

“You can write it, but I don’t think about it. His quality, we all know about it. It gives him the opportunity to perform in moments like this, with the physical tools.

“At this moment, he looks really good. Yesterday, training was good. The day before, training was good. He will not do too much over the next few days, it’s more tactical things. Will he start? We’ll see.”

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Wins in their final two matches and Liverpool will guarantee themselves a Champions League spot. Anything less and they will be relying on other results. No team in the Premier League era has reached Liverpool’s current tally of 70 points after 36 games and failed to finish in the top four.

Klopp expects Arsenal to close within a point of the Reds by winning at Stoke on Saturday evening. Manchester United’s trip to Tottenham on Sunday follows Liverpool’s clash with the Hammers.

The Reds boss has urged his players not to concern themselves with events elsewhere.

“It is not allowed,” he said.

“When you see Arsenal in this moment you think there will only be one point difference before our game. If you know about problems like that you can think about them but ignore them immediately as it makes no difference.

“Anything is possible. We only have to be focused on our game.”

Liverpool’s recent home form has been patchy with last weekend’s dour stalemate with Southampton meaning they have taken just two points out of the last nine on offer at Anfield. In contrast they have clinched three successive away wins ahead of their first visit to the London Stadium.

Klopp doesn’t believe that discrepancy is down to the Reds finding life easier on the travels because opponents show more ambition rather than shutting up shop.

“In the away games we had the pretty much the same level of possession,” he said.

“I don’t think West Brom thought a lot about build up style. Stoke was a different game but in a moment when we were chasing the game, we were completely dominant. Against us, they play home or away exactly the same.

“I can’t see a big difference so no, it’s nothing to do with this. It’s different reasons.

“We wouldn’t be here talking about this if we had scored against Southampton. It was possible. It was more possible against Crystal Palace.

"Are there four points for us? Yes, it would have changed the season completely.

“But would it change the performances? Not really. But we would speak differently. We all need the results, but I cannot ignore the rest. I would say that last week, we were kind of unlucky because they had no shots on target against us.

“Southampton played the same against us when they were at home. We still had our chances but we didn’t get the result. Performance is for development and really important, results are for the present and more important.

“If the result is not right nobody thinks any more about the performance, only we do and that helps us to build on different things.”