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Key events
55 min: Liverpool have finally turned up for the second half. Wirtz, then Endo, take turns to shoot from the edge of the box. Both efforts are blocked. Wirtz setting himself up with a wall pass off Gravenberch there. The home fans suddenly get a little agitated.
54 min: Salah has been a bit livelier tonight than of late, and now he earns a corner down the right. He takes it himself … and sends it swinging under the crossbar. Roefs does very well to punch clear under extreme pressure.
53 min: Angulo nearly breaks into the box from the left. Mac Allister stands firm and steals the ball off him. Angulo pulls him back. Some honest old-fashioned scrapping, hard but fair.
52 min: Gravenberch finds Ekitike on the edge of the Sunderland D, the striker’s back to goal. Ekitike flicks around the corner, hoping Wirtz would read the intent. Wirtz doesn’t read the intent. Roefs picks up possession. Ekitike hangs out an arm unnecessarily and catches the keeper on the neck. Roefs goes down theatrically. The referee wisely tells both grown men to stop playing silly buggers.
50 min: Hume tries his luck from 25 yards. It’s a decent effort, aimed towards the top right but always clearing the bar. Alisson had it covered. Sunderland have enjoyed 79 percent of possession since the restart.
49 min: Now it’s Ekitike’s turn to showcase some exquisite skill, flicking the ball past Ballard on the left touchline and accelerating into space. But he wastes the fine work by losing control under no pressure whatsoever when cutting infield. Promising signs from both attacks in the early exchanges of this second half, though.
47 min: Angulo elegantly Cruyff-turns his way past Endo down the left but Van Dijk heads his cross clear easily enough. Lovely initial show of skill, though. And speaking of old-school World Cup imagery … “Liverpool’s shade of green looks the same as the one used in alternate Germany kits of yesteryear,” observes Peter Oh. “If Wirtz roofs one in past Roefs you can colour me mighty relieved!”
Liverpool get the second half underway. No changes.
Half-time pint.
Half-time show.
HALF TIME: Sunderland 0-0 Liverpool
Liverpool have been the better side, but one save from Wirtz apart, Roefs hasn’t had too much work to do. Both teams go in happy enough, if for different reasons.
45 min +1: Sadiki twists around Mac Allister down the right, and crosses low. While Gravenberch is clearing a harmless cross, Brobbey goes over while wrestling with his old foe Konate. A quick VAR check but there’s nothing in that. All very soft.
45 min: There will be one additional first-half minute.
44 min: Diarra goes down, having taken a heavy touch, then a heavy whack from Gakpo. Happily he’s back up on his feet soon enough.
43 min: … Salah loops weakly into the hands of Roefs. That little story could have been more rhythmically satisfying.
42 min: A corner on the left leads to two more on the right. And from the second one …
41 min: Robertson is released into the Sunderland box down the left. From a tight angle, he bashes a low cross-cum-shot into the six-yard box. Roefs, his legs a-tangle, nearly deflects backwards into his own net. Just wide left.
40 min: Mac Allister pings Endo into space down the right. Endo slaps a poor cross straight at Roefs, with Ekitike waiting to sidefoot home. It’s not exactly breaking news, but Liverpool miss Trent.
39 min: A ball rolling down the Sunderland inside-right channel. Brobbey momentarily looks like getting ahead of Konate, but the defender stays strong and ushers him away from goal. Sunderland want a free kick, suggesting Konate was tugging the striker, but replays show the attacker doing most of the armwork.
38 min: Salah curls a cross in from the right. Wirtz competes half-heartedly for a header with Roefs, and the keeper wins that duel easily enough. Sunderland counter, and Angulo dribbles in from the left. He makes space, 25 yards out, and has a dig. Straight at Alisson.
36 min: … Gakpo makes good down the left and cuts back for Van Dijk, who tries to scoop a shot goalwards from 12 yards. The ball pings off Alderete for a corner, from which nothing comes. It feels like a Liverpool goal is in the post.
35 min: Liverpool are on top now. Ekitike, Gakpo and Robertson combine down the left to draw a foul. And from a free kick quickly taken by Robertson …
33 min: Robertson crosses from the byline on the left. Endo isn’t who they’d ideally want at the far stick. His cross finds Gakpo on the left. The ball’s cut back to Wirtz, who shifts the ball inches left to make space, then sends a forensic shot through a crowded box, diagonally left to right, and off the base of the right-hand post! A super-smart effort that deserved full reward. But Wirtz and Liverpool don’t receive their dues.
32 min: Sunderland win another throw deep in Liverpool territory. Hume goes short, gets the ball back, and loops it harmlessly into the arms of Alisson. Liverpool counter briskly, and Ekitike has a whack that momentarily discombobulates Reinildo.
31 min: … Van Dijk flicks a header over at the near post. That’s a good chance, and you’d expect Liverpool’s captain to hit the target at the very least.
30 min: Now Wirtz has a pop from long range. His effort is whistling towards the bottom left, but Roefs extends fully to punch around the post. That’s a very decent effort with a save to match. And from Gakpo’s corner …
29 min: Gravenberch lines up a shot from distance. Brobbey blocks.
28 min: Liverpool, the words of Ian Copestake (21 min) ringing in their lugs, try to up the pace. Wirtz buzzing around, playing a couple of cute balls around the corner. But Sunderland are well drilled, and there are no gaps.
27 min: The home fans warmly applaud the memory of George Forster, a Sunderland fan who passed away recently at the grand old age of 99. Rest well, sir.
26 min: Gravenberch floats a long cross in from the right. Robertson competes for a header at the far stick, but the ball sails high over his neep. Goal kick.
24 min: Reinildo is booked for tugging back Salah on the halfway line. On TNT Sports, some world-class effing and jeffing can be heard from the Sunderland executive boxes. Marvellous pre-watershed entertainment.
23 min: The xG right now: Sunderland 0.11, Liverpool 0.04. The defending champions. Liverpool have only won three times on the road this season, so perhaps we shouldn’t be too surprised.
21 min: “Given the number of times Livepool face a side sitting back you’d think they’d have worked out how to cut through them. Like passing quicker?” Ian Copestake there, very possibly frustrated. With this criticism taken on board, Wirtz and Robertson speed it up down the left and look for Ekitike in the middle. The ball breaks off Hume and nearly squeaks into the bottom left. Just wide. Nothing comes of the resulting corner.
19 min: Angulo creams a pass down the right for Mukiele, who sends in a low first-time cross. Brobbey prepares to slam goalwards from six yards, but Konate sticks out a leg to clear. That’s fine attacking, fine defending, fine play all round.
18 min: More possession for the hosts, who have done a good job of checking Liverpool’s brief burst of attacking momentum.
16 min: Sunderland respond with their first period of possession in a wee while. Ballard looks for Diarra down the right but wily old Robertson strides across to shepherd the ball out for a goal kick.
14 min: Konate plays a clever low fizzing pass down the inside-right channel, nearly releasing Salah. Reinildo nips in to intercept, just in time. A nanosecond later and Salah was in.
13 min: Liverpool have enjoyed 75 percent of possession so far.
12 min: Liverpool continue to probe. Gakpo and Ekitike take turns to examine the inside-left channel, but again there’s no way through. Both teams will be happy enough with their start.
10 min: Alisson’s long blooter down the middle nearly releases Salah through on goal. Roefs is wise to the grift, and races from his box to whack clear.
9 min: After a storming Sunderland start, Liverpool are beginning to get a bit of a foothold in this game. The hosts sitting back and holding their shape. Gakpo cuts in from the left but there’s no route to goal. His half-hearted cross is easily cleared; Konate suffers a rush of blood to the head and attempts a shot from 30 yards. It flies roughly the same distance over the bar, and wide left also.
7 min: Back in the 1980s, there used to be a Liverpool fanzine called Another Wasted Corner. And that was during the club’s all-conquering pomp. Anyway, they’re still at it.
6 min: Salah and Ekitike combine down the inside-right channel and feed Wirtz, who bursts into the box and wins Liverpool’s first corner of the evening. Salah to take.
5 min: Liverpool get a prolonged touch of the ball for the first time. Mac Allister swings a cross in from the right. Ekitike challenges for a header but Roefs comes off his line to punch powerfully clear.
4 min: Sunderland win a throw deep in Liverpool territory. Hume is expected to fling it in long, but takes it short instead, and soon enough the ball’s back at the feet of Roefs. A bit odd. Sunderland perhaps keeping their powder dry, if literally nothing else.
2 min: … the ball’s played back to Angulo, who tries to trick Alisson at his near post. The keeper reads the danger and claims. That’s got the home fans, already giving it plenty, going some. Meanwhile here’s Peter Oh: “Liverpool have had such bad luck with injuries, shipping comical last-gasp goals, and suspensions. How could things possibly get worse? Running into eleven Black Cats maybe? Sigh.”
1 min: It has been belting down on Wearside all day. It’s still raining. Windy as well. And Sunderland are on the front foot early doors, Mukiele in space on the right and winning a very early corner off Robertson. From which …
After Prokofiev and Republica, some Elvis. They can’t help falling in love with them. And they – Sunderland – get the ball rolling. What an atmosphere!
No pre-match pow-wow with Régis Le Bris, who’ll have been doing his talking in the changing room. So here come the teams. Sunderland in their famous red and white stripes, Liverpool in third-choice “sea green” with gloriously retro 70s/80s shield. The home fans standing on the rooftops shouting out. We’ll be off in a minute!
Arne Slot talks to TNT Sports. “Throughout the whole season [the right-back position] is like this … it is not going to be the first time that Wata Endo is playing as a full-back … we have struggled in that position a lot … not because we don’t have one, but the two we have, have been injured a lot … a very good replacement [Joe Gomez] has mainly not been there when the two others are out … I have two good full-backs on [the left side] … it is another time we have played three games in seven days … that is different than three in eight … not many times Milos [Kerkez] has done this because he comes from Bournemouth where he did not play in Europe … the few times I did [select him] he struggled a little bit with playing so many times … [Andrew Robertson] is a great replacement to have.”
Penny for the thoughts of Calvin Ramsay, right-back by trade, sitting on the bench. Meanwhile Slot is asked about the race for the Champions League places: “We know what we have to do, 13 games to be played … we have to win a lot of them to get to the position we want to be … maybe yesterday the results were not too bad for us but this can change every week and we have to focus on ourselves … get as many points as we can.”
Here’s a reminder of what happened when the teams met in the reverse fixture at Anfield a couple of months ago. In both traditional match report and new-fangled MBM format, for your leisure and pleasure.
Shoogly Peg latest. At the start of the season, if you’d been told one of tonight’s managers would be worried about the status of their coat on the aforementioned hanging point, your concerns would surely have been for Régis Le Bris. Ah but.
Sunderland make one change to their starting XI after the 3-0 defeat at Arsenal. It’s an attacking one: Nilson Angulo comes in for Chemsdine Talbi, who drops to the bench. Captain and all-round influencer Granit Xhaka is still missing.
Liverpool make two changes to their starting line-up in the wake of their 2-1 loss to Manchester City. One is enforced: Dominik Szoboszlai is suspended so Wataru Endo takes his place as stand-in right-back. Meanwhile in the other full-back position, Andy Robertson comes in for Milos Kerkez, who is benched.
The teams
Sunderland: Roefs, Mukiele, Ballard, Alderete, Mandava, Sadiki, Le Fee, Hume, Diarra, Angulo, Brobbey.
Subs: Ellborg, Cirkin, Geertruida, Talbi, Rigg, Mayenda, O’Nien, Mundle, Isidor.
Liverpool: Alisson, Endo, Konate, van Dijk, Robertson, Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Salah, Wirtz, Gakpo, Ekitike.
Subs: Mamardashvili, Gomez, Kerkez, Chiesa, Jones, Nyoni, Ramsay, Morrison, Ngumoha.
Referee: Chris Kavanagh
VAR: Darren England
Preamble
Sunderland haven’t beaten Liverpool for the best part of 14 years, since the days of Nicklas Bendtner and Kenny Dalglish. Before that, it was That Beachball Game in 2009. And yet despite these slim pickings, the Black Cats go into tonight’s fixture full of hope. Newly promoted Sunderland are delighted to be sitting pretty in mid-table; reigning champions Liverpool, just three points better off, aren’t feeling quite so comfy. Sunderland are unbeaten at home in this campaign; Liverpool haven’t won on the road in the League since before Christmas, and that at Spurs, which isn’t exactly a cap-enhancing feather right now. Sunderland have won their last two at home; Liverpool have lost two of their last three League fixtures, the latest in farcical fashion.
So you can see why Sunderland and the Stadium of Light faithful might fancy this. But Liverpool will be buoyed by results going their way last night, an opportunity to haul themselves back in the race for next season’s Champions League suddenly presenting itself. With time running out for the champions to get their season back on some semblance of track, they’ll surely be desperate for three points tonight, and will act accordingly. The hosts – who have already held Arsenal and Manchester City at home – will be unwilling to bend to their desire. All of which tees up the possibility of high drama, fun, entertainment, controversy, farce, and so on, and so forth. Fingers crossed, anyway. Kick-off is at 8.15pm GMT. It’s on!
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