text: Twelve months ago, Liverpool were a free-flowing, potent attacking force with the SS (Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge) firing on all cylinders - the pair would eventually end up scoring 52 of Liverpool's 101 goals in the Premier League.This season, however, the goals have dried up. Replacing Suarez was always going to be a near-impossible task, but Liverpool fans would have started the season quietly confident that the quality was there to collectively make up for the Uruguayan's absence. Unfortunately for Brendan Rodgers, things in the final third have not quite clicked in the final third in the way they did last season. Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge (right) scored 52 Premier League goals for Liverpool last season . Raheem Sterling has struggled in front of goal this season, scoring only scored six Premier League goals . Jordan Henderson (centre) celebrates scoring sixth goal of the season, a penalty against Arsenal on Saturday . With just seven games of the season left Liverpool have scored just 45 goals - compared to 84 at the same stage last season - and their top scorers - Raheem Sterling, Jordan Henderson and Steven Gerrard - have scored six goals each. To put that into context, only Crystal Palace (Dwight Gayle and Mile Jedinak - four) and Sunderland (Adam Johnson and Steven Fletcher - four) have top scorers with fewer Premier League goals than Liverpool. while Aston Villa's top scorers Christian Benteke and Gabriel Agbonlahor have also only managed six each. What the stats clearly show is that Liverpool have not filled the void left by Suarez, they are missing a Harry Kane (19 goals), a Diego Costa (also 19), a Sergio Aguero (17), even a Charlie Austin (16 goals) - and it has cost them dearly. Harry Kane (centre) didn't score against Burnley on Sunday, but has 19 Premier League goals this season . Diego Costa is the joint top scorer in the Premier League with 19 goals in his first season in England . Liverpool fans would argue that in Sturridge, who scored 21 league goals last term, they do have a player capable of scoring 20+ goals a season - and they are right. The England striker has had a frustrating season due to various injuries, and that is unfortunate, but Liverpool's others goal threats - Raheem Sterling, Mario Balotelli and Rickie Lambert - simply haven't met the standards set by the SS last season. Some may also argue that while Liverpool lack a single focal point in attack, the group as a whole have picked up the slack. That may be true to an extent but Kane and Costa have scored more than Sterling, Henderson and Gerrard combined. And there can be little doubt that had Sturridge remained fit all season he would have more than six Premier League goals by this stage of the season. The are mitigating circumstances for Liverpool, no doubt, but the stats don't lie and the fact that no one person has grabbed the mantle left by Suarez or Sturridge has proven costly for Liverpool - and may be a crucial reason why they miss out on Champions League football next season. Only Sunderland and Crystal Palace have top scorers with fewer Premier League goals than Liverpool this season. ARSENAL - Alexis Sánchez, Olivier Giroud. 14. ASTON VILLA - Christian Benteke, Gabriel Agbonlahor. 6. BURNLEY - Danny Ings. 9. CHELSEA - Diego Costa. 19. CRYSTAL PALACE - Dwight Gayle, Mile Jedinak. 5. EVERTON - Romelu Lukaku. 8. HULL - Nikica Jelavic. 8. LEICESTER - Leonardo Ulloa. 7. LIVERPOOL - Raheem Sterling, Steven Gerrard, Jordan Henderson. 6. MAN CITY - Sergio Aguero. 17. MAN UNITED - Wayne Rooney. 12. NEWCASTLE - Papiss Cisse. 11. QPR - Charlie Austin 16. SOUTHAMPTON - Graziano Pelle. 8. STOKE - Mame Biram Diouf. 8. SUNDERLAND - Adam Johnson, Steven Fletcher. 4. SWANSEA* - Wilfried Bony. 9. Ki Sung-yueng. 7. TOTTENHAM - Harry Kane. 19. WEST BROM - Saido Berahino. 12. WEST HAM - Diafra Sakho. 10. *Wilfried Bony scored nine goals for Swansea before moving to Man City. The club's current top scorer is Ki Sung-yueng with seven goals.
target: Raheem Sterling, Jordan Henderson and Steven Gerrard are Liverpool's top scorers in the Premier League this season with six goals each .
  Seventeen of 20 Premier League clubs have top scorers with more goals .
  Liverpool are paying for failing to properly replace goals of Luis Suarez .