Wanted, one striker. Preferably experienced. Abundance of chances available, must know where goal is. Will collect in January.

On the face of it, sixth place after nine games, just four points off a Champions League place and a spot in the quarter finals of the Carling Cup is not among the worst starts Liverpool have made to a season. The problem comes when you consider how good it could, and should have been.

The home draws against Sunderland and Norwich and defeat at Stoke were all games in which Kenny Dalglish’s men had more than enough chances to win, but instead they notched just two goals and dropped seven points. Had they secured the three points in each of those games that their general play deserved, and during which they had a cumulative 67 shots at goal, they would now be sitting on 22 points, just three behind leaders Manchester City.

Since Dalglish’s return in January, Liverpool have largely been playing a 4-4-2 – with obvious exceptions, such as the back three in February’s visit to Stamford Bridge – though one with far more fluidity than that which Roy Hodgson preferred. Unsurprisingly, it also closely resembles the formation which Dalglish favoured with his fabled 1988 side, the right winger tucking inside to form more of a central three and the left winger pressing on to join the attack.

For Ray Houghton, read Jordan Henderson, for John Barnes, Stewart Downing. For Steve McMahon and Ronnie Whelan, Lucas Leiva and Charlie Adam. This analogy should see Luis Suárez take the role of Peter Beardsley, buzzing about behind the front man, feeding balls in and generally being the creative hub of the side. Instead, however, Suárez has often been the furthest man forward in the 2011 version of Dalglish’s Liverpool, asked to lead the line and score the goals.

His record of 126 goals in 196 games during his time in the Netherlands may have created a false impression of the player Suárez is, and he is certainly no Ian Rush. The recent history of the Premier League is littered with strikers who scored for fun in the Eredivisie but struggled to recreate that success in England. Of course there are some successes as well, but for every Ruud van Nistelrooy there is a Mateja Kezman, for every Robin van Persie an Afonso Alves.

Suárez is at his best as a creative player, either allowed to roam behind a lone striker or as the left forward in an attacking trident. Furthermore, the statistics amassed so far this season back up the fact that he simply is not the goal poacher that Liverpool seem to so desperately need.

The Uruguayan has certainly been given the ammunition needs to have bagged a hat full of goals already this season. In nine Premier League appearances he has taken 33 shots at goal, the same number as Wayne Rooney and more than any of his other rivals at the ‘big’ clubs in the league. Yet Rooney has netted nine goals and Suárez just four, while Edin Dzeko has eight, Van Persie seven and Sergio Agüero, like Rooney, has nine. Yes Suárez has at times been denied by fine goalkeeping, such as that of John Ruddy against Norwich, but he has also been horrendously wasteful, with 16 of his 33 shots not even hitting the target.

So if Suárez should be released to play the Beardsley role, who is it that he should be supplying. The obvious answer is Andy Carroll. For £35M one might expect to be buying a striker with an eye for goal, and having struck eleven times for Newcastle before his move to Anfield, there is evidence to back his case. A mixture of injury, form and a chronic lack of confidence have hurt his chances on Merseyside so far, however, and though there are signs that he is getting towards where he should be, the goals are yet to arrive to match the improved performances.

Another who has been mentioned as a possible, ready made solution is Dirk Kuyt. The Dutchman has not always been known for his goalscoring prowess at Anfield, but mostly stationed on the right since his move, he hasn’t always had the chance to. Certainly he gave evidence whilst Carroll recovered from injury last season that he may be able to step up to the mantle, finishing the campaign with eighteen goals in all competitions, and his hat-trick against Manchester United in March exhibiting all the qualities needed in a poacher.

There seems no desire to play Kuyt in that role on a regular basis, however, so unless faith is placed in Carroll and the Geordie is given a run in the side, the Reds may well be looking for a new striker come January. There were mentions of a potential move for Daniel Sturridge in the summer, though the chances of Andre Villas-Boas letting him go after the way he has settled back into Stamford Bridge are slim to say the least.

Whomever it may be, what is clear is that Liverpool need someone who can bang in the goals. They have made no secret of the fact that a place back in the Champions League is their target for the season, and to achieve that, they must begin scoring on a far more regular basis, putting teams to the sword when they have the opportunity. A lot of Liverpool’s build up play so far has been impressive, they have been creating more than enough chances, but unless someone is brought in who can simply stick the ball in the back of the net, it may be more Thursday nights in far flung places in 2012 that lie ahead for the Anfield side.

Photograph courtesy of ASHISH1987 

As well as being a regular contributor to The Football Project, Simon is editor of a new world football blog, Lovely Left Foot.

Statistics used in this article were taken from EPLIndex.com.