Luis Suarez may have once again stolen the headlines with a stunning brace against Cardiff City on Saturday – but Opta statistics show how central defensive pairing Martin Skrtel and Mamadou Sakho played a key role against the Bluebirds.

The duo stood strong as the visitors attempted to salvage something from the contest in the second half, making two tackles each and winning both.

Their dominance is also reflected in the fact Skrtel emerged the winner in 72.7 per cent of his duels, while Sakho tallied 69.2 per cent.

The centre-backs were also instrumental in building moves from the back, with Sakho having 102 touches of the ball and making 87 passes. Skrtel, meanwhile, touched the ball 87 times and moved it on to a teammate 70 times.

Browse through the embedded Opta widget below for an extensive breakdown of each player's performance, covering defending, attacking, distribution and general play.

[OTPA_WIDGET_CONTENT]

Click here to view all of our available Opta statistics, including chalkboards, player rankings, progress charts, league tables and upcoming fixtures.