Daniel Sturridge was the hero as his winning goal helped Liverpool beat Manchester United 1-0 at Anfield on Sunday.

The England striker flicked Daniel Agger’s goal-bound effort beyond David de Gea and Tom Cleverley on the line in the first half to grab the goal that proved to be the winner in a fiery Premier League encounter.

United battled in vain to come back into the game, but Simon Mignolet remained defiant as he kept his third clean sheet of the season.

Brendan Rodgers was forced to change his Liverpool starting XI for the first time in the Premier League this season as a groin injury kept Kolo Toure out. Martin Skrtel replaced the Ivorian at the heart of Liverpool’s defence alongside Daniel Agger.

Wayne Rooney was the notable absentee for the visitors – the striker ruled out with a head injury – with Antonio Valencia dropping to the bench as Ashley Young and Ryan Giggs replaced them.

With Tiago Ilori, Mamadou Sakho and Victor Moses all watching on from the stands ahead of potential moves to Anfield, the hosts had the perfect start with a goal inside four minutes.

Steven Gerrard’s corner was met by Agger and as his header flew towards goal, Sturridge reacted quickly to divert the ball into the back of the net from close range.

United reacted well to conceding so early and should have levelled on three occasions as Danny Welbeck and Robin van Persie both missed good chances.

Welbeck fired two shots straight at Simon Mignolet and Van Persie failed to react to a Giggs corner that had evaded a host of players inside the penalty area.

Rodgers’ side controlled the majority of the half with neat passing and fluid movement, but were unable to test David de Gea in the United goal.

Young – who had been quiet in the first half – went close to equalising for the visitors just after the break with the visitors’ best sight of goal.

Liverpool failed to clear a corner but Young’s half-volley struck Glen Johnson and deflected away.

The rivalry between the two sides began to intensify as the game reached the hour mark, referee Andre Marriner issuing five yellow cards – four of them to United players.

United substitute Nani stung the palms of Mignolet minutes after coming on but the hosts were able to keep their opponents at bay.

Young – who had been quiet in the first half – went close to equalising for the visitors just after the break with the visitors’ best sight of goal.

Liverpool failed to clear a corner but Young’s half-volley struck Glen Johnson and deflected away.

The rivalry between the two sides began to intensify as the game reached the hour mark, referee Andre Marriner issuing six yellow cards – four of them to United players.

Van Persie fired wide following a Javier Hernandez through-ball and a fine De Gea save also denied Raheem Sterling in stoppage time as Liverpool clung on to record the victory. 

Liverpool’s victory, however, was tempered by the departure of Johnson late in the game through injury. Watching England manager Roy Hodgson will have been particularly concerned given Phil Jones also limped out in the second half.

The Gunners saw two bids rejected for the striker this summer before calling off their pursuit, and the Reds captain feels such a move would have betrayed the club and supporters

Steven Gerrard has urged Luis Suarez to leave Liverpool when the times comes with “his head held high” and join one of Europe’s elite sides… but not a Premier League rival.

Arsenal have seen two bids for the Uruguayan rejected – the latest being £40,000,001 in an attempt to trigger a supposed release clause – only for Arsene Wenger to recently admit defeat in the pursuit.

And Gerrard is confident Suarez will now stay at Anfield for at least another season and he does not class any potential move to the Emirates Stadium as a step forward for the striker.

“Luis had a decision to make for himself and hopefully he will decide the best thing is to stay here for a little bit longer,” Gerrard told The Guardian.

“I was frustrated too when Luis was just being linked with Arsenal. I don’t want to disrespect Arsenal in any way. They are a fantastic club but I don’t see it as a step forward for Luis in his career. There are only two or three clubs he should leave this club for if he is taking a step forward.

“I understand we’re a little bit off the Champions League at the moment but it would be a shame to ruin the relationship he has got with the supporters to go to another English club. I saw what happened to Fernando Torres, I don’t think he should make that type of move and that’s the advice I gave to him.”

Gerrard also thanked the Liverpool fans for continuing to back Suarez despite the former Ajax man making no secret of his desire to leave the club, and now hopes he will show some recognition to the supporters.

“The support the fans have given him has been phenomenal,” he says. “They haven’t once jeered him or tried to push him or fall out with him. They absolutely idolise him, so surely he wants to walk out with his head held high and go to a Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich.

“He can walk into any side in the world, he’s that good. No one would begrudge him such a move, but for me it is important to be clapped out and clapped back in if you ever return in the future.

“People talk about player power but players have got to realise there is a loyalty they need to pay back at certain times. Luis has got to openly admit that the club has stood behind him on a couple of massive occasions and rewarded him with new contracts.”

The Slovakia international scored twice on Saturday and his coach admitted there are similarities between the midfielder and the Liverpool star

Rafael Benitez compared Marek Hamsik with Steven Gerrard after he scored twice in Napoli’s 4-2 victory over Chievo on Saturday.

The 26-year-old netted either side of half-time to ensure the Naples outfit maintained their 100% start to the new season.

Hamsik opened his account for the season last week with two goals against Bologna, prompting Benitez draw comparisons between the Slovakia international and Gerrard, who he worked with during his time in charge of Liverpool.

“It’s clear he’s important to us, he makes room for the other offensive players,” the Spaniard stated to reporters after the game.

“Is Hamsik to Napoli the equivalent of Gerrard to Liverpool? They are different, Hamsik doesn’t have Gerrard’s strength but more tactical intelligence.

“He is the strength of this team at this time.”

Summer signing Gonzalo Higuain also struck at the Stadio Bentegodi and while defensive concerns were raised, Benitez maintained his satisfaction at the result.

“There were so many good things today. We controlled the game and made goals. You could see the team had character and wanted to win,” he continued.

“A new defender? For us, it’s important to work with who we have, then we’ll see. Of course there were errors against a tactical opponent but our reaction and ideas were clear tonight.”