Liverpool did not win at residence once more as they had been held to a draw by Sunderland in a outcome that may do little to ease the stress on Arne Slot.
Liverpool wanted a late personal objective to rescue a degree in opposition to Sunderland because the struggling Premier League champions produced one other dreadful show in a 1-1 draw at Anfield.
Arne Slot’s men beat West Ham 2-0 final Sunday to ease among the stress on their supervisor, however any considered that outcome being a turning level shortly dissipated as Liverpool laboured in an immediately forgettable first half.
Having suffered chastening defeats to Nottingham Forest and PSV Eindhoven of their final two residence video games, it appeared as if it will be an analogous story in opposition to the Black Cats, who punished Liverpool for failing to take management of the sport after they opened the scoring by means of Chemsdine Talbi’s deflected 67th-minute effort.
However the Reds managed the ignominy of residence defeat as soon as once more, with Florian Wirtz coming to the rescue as his shot was diverted into the online by Nordi Mukiele 9 minutes from time.
Whereas that objective spared Liverpool’s blushes considerably, their failure to discover a winner within the ultimate minutes of regular time and the seven minutes of stoppage time means there can be but extra scrutiny on Slot, although his aspect gained floor on the highest 4, moving two points behind Chelsea following the Blues’ 3-1 loss at Leeds United.
For Sunderland, the outcome will possible solely enhance their confidence going into the weekend’s conflict with Manchester Metropolis, which precedes the return of the derby with arch rivals Newcastle United on the Stadium of Mild on December 14.
Talbi stuns Anfield
A low-key first half noticed Sunderland frustrate a sluggish Liverpool, with the guests going shut from lengthy vary as Trai Hume pressured Allison to tip onto the crossbar with a vicious drive.
Wirtz earlier had sections of Anfield believing he had ended his lengthy anticipate a objective, however his effort had in truth been deflected into the side-netting by Robin Roefs, who was additionally required to repel a Dominik Szoboszlai strike from lengthy distance earlier than Alexis MacAllister hit the publish with a header.
The Argentinian’s exasperated response summed up the opening interval for the hosts, and Arne Slot’s response was to throw on Mohamed Salah, left on the bench as he was in opposition to West Ham, rather than the ineffective Cody Gakpo.
But the Egyptian’s introduction did little to spark Liverpool into life, they usually had been grateful to the woodwork for preserving parity simply after the hour when Omar Alderete struck the close to publish along with his header from a nook.
Liverpool’s fortune ran out when Talbi let fly from distance and noticed his ambition rewarded as his strike deflected off Virgil van Dijk and past the attain of Alisson.
Wirtz and Chiesa to the rescue for Liverpool
Sunderland’s slender benefit gave the impression to be maintained because the Reds struggled to craft something resembling a response, till Wirtz delivered one out of the blue with arguably his finest piece of play in a Liverpool shirt.
The Germany star, underneath hearth for his distinct lack of affect since his £100million transfer from Bayer Leverkusen, confirmed good footwork to create for area himself simply inside the world, and his ensuing effort took a heavy deflection off Mukiele and previous the stranded Roefs.
An excellent move from Roefs gave Sunderland a golden likelihood to retake the lead and seal a well-known victory as he despatched Wilson Isidor by means of on objective, just for Federico Chiesa to dam his effort after the Haiti worldwide had rounded Alisson.
Liverpool huffed and puffed within the dying minutes to seek out the winner, however Hugo Ekitike’s shot excessive over the crossbar on the flip encapsulated one other underwhelming night for the champions.
