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Cape Town - There is often nothing more dangerous than a striker with a point to prove as Daniel Sturridge and Divock Origi showed in Liverpool's League Cup mauling of Southampton.
The pair made their mark in emphatic fashion as Liverpool ran out 6-1 winners at St Mary's, Sturridge scoring twice with clinical finishes and Origi grabbing his own headlines with a hat-trick.
Neither player has enjoyed the best start to the season and for differing reasons needed to show new manager Jurgen Klopp what they were truly capable of.
Sturridge, making his first start since the beginning of October, scored with two clinical finishes to turn the quarter-final tie Liverpool's way after Southampton had found the net within a minute.
The striker has had his motivation and desire to play through the pain barrier openly questioned by fans and pundits after a series of injuries have kept him sidelined for a vast part of the last two seasons.
His talent has never been doubted, however, and the England frontman gave a timely reminder of his finishing prowess with superbly-taken first-half goals that had his manager purring.
"It was not too bad what Daniel Sturridge did after his long break," Klopp told Sky Sports after leading his team into the semi-finals.
"I told him 'now I know what everybody's talking about!' the first time I saw him do it live for me in the stadium."
