Tottenham defender Jan Vertonghen believes the main difference between his club and title challenges Liverpool is Luis Suárez’s performances this season.

Spurs, who meet Liverpool on Sunday at Anfield, sit fifth in the Premier League table and are nine points behind the Reds having played a game more. 

The London club finished 11 points ahead of their opposition last season but this campaign has seen a turnaround in Liverpool’s fortunes, something Vertonghen attributes to his former Ajax teammate.

“Suárez is the reason for that. At the moment he is up there as one of the best strikers in the world. I think he is the difference between the teams,” said the Belgian. 

“[Daniel] Sturridge obviously is doing well and those two are very hard to stop. They are one of the best teams in the league and they show it every week.

“It is going to be very hard, especially at Anfield, and I hope we can play as we did last season because we did very well, not the result but the performance.”