Liverpool 1-1 Sunderland: Liverpool were just 10 minutes away from losing at home to Sunderland after suffering a huge deflection to rescue Arne Slott’s beleaguered Reds at Anfield.
Liverpool’s nightmarish title defense suffered another blow at home to Sunderland on Wednesday night, but Florian Wirths stopped things from getting any worse. Kemsuddin Talbi’s deflected shot gave the visitors the lead and the score remained 1-0 going into the final 10 minutes, but Wilts converted Nordi Mukiele’s shot for a corner kick.
Midway through the first half, Wirtz came desperately close to opening his account for the Reds, but Sunderland keeper Robin Roofs thwarted his charge. But just after the half-hour mark, Trey Hume’s shot hit Alisson’s woodwork and the visitors went even closer.
Liverpool hit the wooden frame themselves just before half-time, but Roofs could have covered Alexis Mac Allister’s header if it had hit the post. After an hour, Omar Alderete fired a shot wide of the post, but Alisson was not sure of the defender’s header.
This should have been a wake-up call for Arne Slott’s side, but it was Sunderland who took the lead. Talvi benefited from Virgil van Dijk’s deflection from behind, but was given too much time and space to crack into goal in the first place.
There was an even bigger deflection on the equalizer, which would have been recorded as an own goal by Mukiele, but the home crowd was clearly delighted for Wirths, even if it wasn’t his first official Premier League goal. However, Sunderland almost iced Liverpool out after Wilson Isidore rounded Alisson at the death, but his shot was cleared on the goal line by Federico Chiesa.
read more: Breaking news: Florian Wirtz has been stripped of his goal by Liverpool, statement releasedread more: Liverpool manager speaks out, Mohamed Salah’s reaction to Arne Slott being left on the bench again
Slott made just one change to the squad that won against West Ham on Sunday, with Andy Robertson returning in place of Milos Kerkes. This means Mo Salah will once again start on the bench, with less than two weeks left until his departure for the African Cup of Nations.
Apart from Dominik Szoboszlai’s speculative long-range shot, the early knock didn’t provide much entertainment. Liverpool showed respect for their newly-promoted opponents, with energetic Brian Brobby handing his first Premier League start for the visitors, while remaining wary of any threat in the second half.
Sunderland had chances even before taking the lead and looked likely to win, but a brutal deflection denied them. Here’s the mirror football buzz from Anfield:
1. Salah was forced to wait for his return.
In the second game of the spin, manager Arne Slott removed Mohamed Salah from Liverpool’s starting XI. The manager said Salah was unhappy not being on the pitch for West Ham but had decided not to mess with the winning formula.
However, as the second half began, the Egyptian returned to the pitch. He came on in place of Kodi Gakpo, who was quiet in the first half, and immediately showed a sense of urgency by pressing from a high position.
In the 74th minute, Slott made further changes in attack, with Hugo Ekitike introduced as an additional player in the attack. However, questions still remained as Gakpo and record signing Alexander Isak were both well below par.
2. Wirtz is missing the mark – or is he?
Florian Wirtz’s long scoreless streak continues, but he will continue to repeat the usual cliché about results being more important than individual accolades. Indeed, given their chances so far, it felt like Liverpool might need some luck.
We know all about Dominik Szoboszlai’s abilities from distance. The win against Arsenal was just one example, and Wednesday we got more of the same. The early shots were easy enough for Roofs, but a palm-stinging shot just before half-time caused more problems for the Sunderland man.
Of course, having a player of that quality in your locker is valuable, but Liverpool will feel they should be more of a threat. They had two £100m players in their starting XI and the luxury of having Salah off the bench, but they never looked like a team with attacking wealth.
3. Gomez appears on Milestone
Once on the field, Joe Gomez played 250 games for Liverpool. That total is just over 10 seasons and highlights how many injuries have derailed what could have been a much better career.
The former Charlton player scored over 40 games in just two seasons at Anfield, one of which saw him win the league in 2019/20. He’s only 28 years old and, in theory, could still accomplish a lot if he can overcome his injury problems.
Gomez started at right-back against Sunderland, rather than at centre-back, a position he has occupied more often over the last decade. The search ball was an early test for visiting keeper Rufus, but there was a more embarrassing moment 10 minutes into the second half when he was given a yellow card for a late tackle on Reinild.
4. AFCON could well hurt Sunderland
Sunderland are expected to lose more players than any other Premier League team in the African Cup of Nations. Given some of their football at Anfield, there is reason to fear.
Noah Sadiki, who will travel to the tournament with DR Congo, was impressed by the energy in central midfield and was not overwhelmed by Liverpool’s title-winning trio. Reinild and goalscorer Talbi have been paired on the left flank, but both players could head to Morocco later this month.
There is still a lot of quality in Regis Le Bris’ squad and, perhaps surprisingly, Omar Alderete is the main goal threat at centre-back. Still, with some key players absent, it’s understandable that bosses are reportedly looking for new blood in January.
5. The crisis continues
Few Liverpool fans would have been under the illusion that a weekend win at West Ham would be enough to cure all ills. Indeed, the first 45 minutes against Sunderland were enough to remind them there was still plenty of work to do.
Previous iterations of Liverpool would have found a new gear after the restart. But that is not the case today, giving Sunderland further reason to think they can take care of business minute by minute.
In the end they were wondering ‘why not’ and were rewarded with Talbi’s goal. A 1-1 draw may have been the last thing Liverpool wanted out of this game, but the problems seem to run deep and the performance is more of a concern than the result.
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