The celebration was justified yet indicative of another worrying night for Arne Slot. It was the 94th minute and Federico Chiesa was waving his arms in front of Liverpool fans, rejoicing not in delivering a victory befitting his job as a striker but in saving the Premier League champions from certain defeat. Sunderland should consider their point at Anfield as an opportunity missed.
Chiesa’s celebration followed his goalline clearance to deny Sunderland a first win at Anfield since October 1983. Slot, though restrained in his technical area, must have been tempted to join in. His team were staring at a 10th defeat in 14 games when Wilson Isidor, on as a Sunderland substitute, raced through from goalkeeper Robin Roefs’s smart pass and rounded Alisson in the Liverpool goal. Chiesa, on as a substitute as Slot chased victory, had abandoned his attacking instincts to track back and produced a vital block. Liverpool were spared another inquest, just about.
“In the final minutes I thought we were close to making it 2-1 because we had a few set pieces and were constantly around their box,” Slot said. “But then from one set piece their goalkeeper gets the ball and when I looked up I saw their player completely free on the halfway line. The good thing is Fede could have thought it had nothing to do with him but he kept sprinting back and made a good block. The draw was the minimum we deserved.”
That was a positive take on proceedings by the Liverpool head coach. The Premier League champions were again subdued on home soil and, although they did put Sunderland under pressure late on, rarely threatened to cancel out Chemsdine Talbi’s deflected opener until Florian Wirtz forced Nordi Mukiele to unwittingly concede an 81st‑minute own goal. Roefs made only routine saves as Liverpool then pushed for what would have been a flattering victory. “The players are discovering a new league,” the Sunderland head coach, Régis Le Bris, said. “It is our debut in this league and I think we are learning fast.” Le Bris’s assessment was more accurate than his opposite number’s.
Few could have predicted that the newly promoted Sunderland would be above the reigning champions in the table come December but they showed why in a high-tempo, confident opening. Brian Brobbey led the line impressively on his first Premier League start and engaged Ibrahima Konaté in a constant physical battle. Close support from Noah Sadiki and Enzo Le Fée ensured the Liverpool defence were never comfortable in the first half.
Dominik Szoboszlai presented the visitors with their first genuine opportunity. Trai Hume took possession of the Liverpool midfielder’s loose touch and let fly from 25 yards. Alisson could only push Hume’s effort on to his crossbar and was relieved to see the rebound bounce clear.
Liverpool promised only in flashes. Wirtz and Alexander Isak looked to build on their improvements at West Ham on Sunday but received little service as carelessness characterised Liverpool’s play. Alexis Mac Allister did come close to opening the scoring but his free header from a Joe Gomez cross struck the base of a post.
Mohamed Salah was left on the bench for the second game in succession, the first time that has happened in his phenomenal Liverpool career, but introduced at the start of the second half with Slot having seen enough aimless attacking play. Salah replaced the anonymous Cody Gakpo with Szoboszlai shifting into his favoured central role and Wirtz out to the left.
Slot said: “We needed a moment of magic or a set piece to score and Cody struggled in the one-v-ones and to get crosses in.” The impressive Omar Alderete headed against a post when arriving unmarked in the six-yard box to meet Le Fée’s corner. Liverpool were unable to capitalise on the let-off. Their performance was not good enough to do so.
Five minutes after the defender’s warning shot Sunderland took the lead following an error by Virgil van Dijk. The Liverpool captain mis-controlled and misplaced an attempted clearance straight to Le Fée. The playmaker fed Talbi who, in space on the right, took aim with a shot that struck Van Dijk on the backside and sailed beyond Alisson into the far corner. It was the 11th time in the past 14 games that Liverpool had conceded first and the Anfield crowd did not hide its annoyance when Isak and Andy Robertson squandered possession cheaply in quick succession.
This time there would be a response. Sunderland were holding out comfortably when a lapse in concentration by Talbi invited Curtis Jones to steal the ball off his toes. Wirtz took over inside the Sunderland box and weaved his way past Reinildo Mandava and Dan Ballard brilliantly before swiping at goal. His shot was sailing wide but struck Mukiele and diverted in.
