Jurgen Klopp hails Divock Origi, Daniel Sturridge partnership for Liverpool

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp believes that Divock Origi and Daniel Sturridge can form a long-term strike partnership after both scoring in this afternoon's 4-1 win over Stoke City.

Klopp dropped Origi to the bench after his goal against Borussia Dortmund on Thursday night, but the Belgian came on at half time and added a second-half brace after Sturridge scored the Reds' second in the opening period.

Speaking to BBC Sport, Klopp said: "Divock is still a young lad. We have to be patient. He can play together with Daniel. There's absolutely no doubt about that.

"We hope it stays like this that we have two strikers available like this because we have a big number of games to go."

Attention now turns to the second leg against Klopp's former club Dortmund, with the Europa League quarter-final evenly poised at 1-1 ahead of Thursday's match at Anfield.

"We had to rest players today," Klopp added. "We needed fresh legs. We needed to be greedy and not think a single per cent about it being another game. I'm really happy."

Liverpool moved up to eighth and within nine points off the top four, with a game in hand on fourth-placed Manchester City.