This club is even bigger than Chelsea and City – Sturridge

The Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge believes there is no bigger club than his new employers in the Premier League, including Sunday's opponents Manchester United.

The 23-year-old striker joined Liverpool on 2 January from Chelsea for £12m, having previously played for current champions Manchester City. "It is the biggest club I have ever played for," Sturridge told Liverpool's official website. "In the Premier League, there is no bigger club than Liverpool."

Sturridge, below, scored on his debut as Liverpool beat Mansfield in the FA Cup at the weekend, and is grateful to manager Brendan Rodgers for signing him, having failed to establish himself at Chelsea or City before that.

"As a young player, when you play for big clubs you can sometimes get caught up in it and you never get another opportunity to play for another big club. I thank the boss for giving me an opportunity to play for a club like this and I thank God for making it possible," Sturridge said.

"For the manager to pay money for me and to have faith in me and show everybody around the world that he is prepared to take a chance on me, I don't think I'll ever be able to repay him for that."

Sturridge's captain, Steven Gerrard, is confident Liverpool will make big strides in the second half of the season. "We didn't get off to the start we wanted this season but that was no surprise to me because there had been a lot of change," Gerrard said. "We had a completely new coaching set-up and there were a few new players coming in, as well as a few players going out.

"My feelings now are that we're moving forward. I think that from now until the end of the season we'll make big strides and improve a lot.

"I'm pretty confident that you'll see us sneak into those top positions."