Suarez is our Messi - Rodgers

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers hailed the Lionel Messi-like character of Luis Suarez after the striker scored twice in the 3-0 defeat of Sunderland.

The Uruguay international took his Premier League tally to 15 for the season - the first Liverpool player to do so since Fernando Torres in 2009-10 - as he followed Raheem Sterling's clever lob.

"When you work with players like Luis Suarez, he is a Messi-type character in terms of he is angry when I give him a breather," said the Reds boss. "At the start of the season I tried to rest him and he didn't want it."

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