Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard believes that striker Luis Suarez would be “the best player ever not to win an award” if he does not claim an individual honour this season.

PA PhotosSuarez’s opening goal against Tottenham was his 50th for Liverpool

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Suarez was again on target for the Reds on Sunday as he scored the opener in the 3-2 win over Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield. That strike took his haul of Premier League goals for the season to 22, three ahead of nearest rival in the scoring charts, Manchester United striker Robin van Persie.

The match was billed as a clash between two of the main candidates for this season’s prizes as Spurs attacker Gareth Bale went up against Uruguay international Suarez.

After the match, Gerrard told the BBC that, while Bale deserved the plaudits he is currently receiving, Suarez just shaded the Welshman as the front-runner for either the PFA Player of the Year award or the Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year prize.

When asked about trying to contain Bale in a deeper-lying midfield role, he said: “It’s an impossible task. He’s in top form, probably one of the best players in the world on current form.

“But luckily enough we’ve got a player who is equally as good as him in Luis Suarez. I think Luis may just pip him to Player of the Year, in my opinion. He’s been incredible. It’s hard to put into words how good he’s been.

“He’s been doing that for us all season. Before the last [transfer] deadline we never got that centre-forward, and he’s almost carried us on his own at times because he was the only forward we had. I think he’s top scorer in the league now. If he doesn’t win an award this year, he’ll be the best player ever not to win an award.”

Gerrard also set his team-mates the challenge of finishing above Everton as they look to secure a place in Europe.

The 32-year-old struck the late penalty that secured a dramatic 3-2 Premier League win over Tottenham at Anfield on Sunday. That victory moved Brendan Rodgers’ side into the top six – and above their Merseyside neighbours – for the first time this season. It also kept alive their hopes of qualifying for next season’s Champions League as they moved to within seven points of fourth-placed Chelsea, who still have to visit Anfield.

Liverpool have won their last three Premier League matches, beating Swansea 5-0 and Wigan 4-0 before their thrilling comeback from 2-1 down to beat Spurs.

And captain Gerrard wants to keep that momentum going over the final nine games of the season.

He told the Liverpool Echo: “When we went out of the Europa League, the message from the manager and the staff was that we needed to try to win as many of our remaining games as possible and try to finish as high as possible.

“Our form is good but we can’t afford to get carried away just because we’ve beaten Tottenham. We need to show what we’ve shown today in all of our remaining games. We want to finish above Everton and as high as we can in the league.”

Gerrard revealed that his penalty winner owed something to Liverpool goalkeeping coach John Achterberg. The Liverpool captain ran over to the bench to celebrate with Achterberg after sending Tottenham keeper Hugo Lloris the wrong way from the spot.

He said: “John Achterberg did a montage on their goalie for me before the game. He consistently went to the right and I think he had saved four out of eight going to his right. I was always going to his left having watched that. But if I hadn’t had that montage, then I would probably have gone to his right – so credit to John.”

Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final draw means Liverpool will have to finish fifth to qualify for next season’s Europa League. The European place on offer to the FA Cup winners only defaults to the Premier League if both finalists qualify for the following season’s Champions League.

But with one team out of Wigan, Blackburn and Millwall guaranteed to reach the final, that will not happen whoever wins at Wembley on May 11 – as the FA Cup winners’ Europa League place defaults initially to the runners-up.

It means that sixth place in the Premier League will not be good enough to qualify for Europe. The Premier League’s top four will go into the Champions League, with the team finishing fifth going into the Europa League.

(Sports Network) – The Toronto Maple Leafs look to bounce back from a tough loss to the Boston Bruins when they host Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins tonight.

Listen to the game on TSN Radio 1050 in Toronto and TSN.ca/Toronto with coverage starting at 6pm et.

The Maple Leafs had won three straight before losing Thursday in Boston. Tyler Seguin scored the go-ahead goal in the second period and later sealed the win with an empty-netter, as the Bruins downed Toronto, 4-2, at TD Garden.

Nazem Kadri and Jay McClement each scored for the Maple Leafs, who dropped their eighth straight meeting against Boston. Ben Scrivens gave up three goals on 24 shots.

“We deserved a better fate,” Toronto head coach Randy Carlyle said. “We did a lot of good things in the game, and I want us to build on that as a team.”

Kadri has reached the scoresheet in seven straight games, matching Kunitz for the longest current point streak in the NHL. Kadri has six goals and five assists during his run.

Toronto has won its last two games at home, upping its record at the ACC this season to 6-5-0.

The Penguins will take aim at a fourth straight victory tonight.

Chris Kunitz enters Saturday’s game with a red-hot stick, having scored seven times during a five-game goal streak. He also has eight goals and four assists on an seven-game point tear.

Kunitz scored twice in Thursday’s 5-4 comeback win at Philadelphia, giving him 14 goals this season and leaving him one shy of James Neal, who leads the club with 15.

Pittsburgh trailed 4-1 after the first period on Thursday, but scored the game’s final four goals to grab two points. Kunitz provided the go-ahead score early in the third period.

Pascal Dupuis added a goal and an assist for the Penguins, who avenged a 6-5 loss to Philadelphia in Pittsburgh on Feb. 20 and took a 2-1 lead in the season series. Neal and Tyler Kennedy also lit the lamp, while Sidney Crosby had three assists to push his point streak to six games.

Pittsburgh goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury gave up four goals on 18 shots and was pulled after the first period. Tomas Vokoun made 14 saves over the final two frames.

“I certainly liked how we came out and played,” said Pens head coach Dan Bylsma. “I think we’ve talked about the emotions in a game against the Flyers and we didn’t play very well in the first. We came out and stuck with it. We just got to our game, started playing, started coming after them and started playing a whole lot better.”

The Pens are 10-4-0 as the road team this season, but they’ve dropped three straight in Toronto. The only meeting between the clubs this season was in Pittsburgh on Jan. 23 and the Maple Leafs recorded a 5-2 victory in that one. Toronto has won four of six overall in this series.

Wide receiver Anquan Boldin said he would retire if released by the Baltimore Ravens. Well, it looks like he’ll either take a pay cut or hang up the cleats.

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The Ravens have asked Boldin to reduce his $6 million base salary. He’ll be released if he declines, according to FoxSports.com’s Alex Marvez. Boldin counts $7.5 million against the cap.

There’s not much optimism, as sources told the Baltimore Sun’s Aaron Wilson, “Unless something dramatic happens, it’s an absolutely done deal that Anquan will be released.”

Boldin has been a perfect fit in Baltimore. He’s been the sure-handed, crisp route-running complement to Torrey Smith‘s deep threat. Boldin caught six passes for 104 yards and a touchdown in the Super Bowl and had 65 receptions for 921 yards and four touchdowns during the regular season.

The Ravens are working for cap room, but the three-time Pro Bowl selection might have the strongest hands in the league — even at 32 years old. The offense will miss Boldin if an agreement isn’t reached. Jacoby Jones is next on the depth chart.

It’s hard to imagine that Boldin would actually retire, considering he would be a legit top-two receiver on most teams.

UPDATE: Boldin told USA Today on Saturday that he “loves” the Ravens, but said he doesn’t want to take a pay cut.

Follow Kareem Copeland on Twitter @kareemcopeland.