Off the top of my head Gerrard prompted the move against Fulham where Henderson slid Suarez in and he closed Richardson down to set up the fourth. As I've already said he is the joint top assist-provider in the league and I'd imagine that he's assisted the assist on a very high number of occasions too.
Countinho isn't going to pick the ball up off Skrtel and Agger and spray it to the forwards. Gerrard is the only man capable of doing that. If we can shut down that route it could force them to hit long, hopeful balls or to try and play it through the midfield up the wing. Either way they would be less accurate and the build up would take longer, giving us more time to get set up defensively.
According to ESPN Countinho doesn't even feature on the assists table. He doesn't seem to be the same player this year as last year. Maybe he's had to alter his position to accommodate Suarez?
