Liverpool escape Sunderland nightmare but Mo Salah gamble fails – 5 talking points

LIVERPOOL 1-1 SUNDERLAND: Liverpool were 10 minutes away from defeat at home to Sunderland only for a big deflection to bail out Arne Slot’s beleagured Reds at Anfield

Liverpool’s nightmare title defence was dealt another blow at home to Sunderland on Wednesday night, but Florian Wirtz stopped it becoming even worse. Chemsdine Talbi’s deflected effort put the visitors in front, and it was still 1-0 going into the final 10 minutes, only for Wirtz’s effort to flick in off Nordi Mukiele and find the corner.

Midway through the first half, Wirtz was desperately close to opening his account for the Reds only for Sunderland keeper Robin Roefs to get in the way of his poked effort. The visitors went even closer just after the half-hour mark, though, with Trai Hume’s blast from range tipped onto the woodwork by Alisson.

Liverpool struck the woodwork themselves on the stroke of half-time, though Roefs may have had Alexis Mac Allister’s header covered had it landed inside the post. On the hour mark, it was Omar Alderete’s turn to strike the outside of the post, with Alisson looking far from certain on the defender’s header.

It should have been a wake-up call for Arne Slot’s team, but instead it was Sunderland who struck first. Talbi benefited from a deflection off the back of Virgil van Dijk, but had been given far too much time and space to have a crack at goal in the first place.

There was an even bigger deflection for the equaliser, which will go down as a Mukiele own goal, but the home crowd were clearly delighted for Wirtz even if it wasn’t officially his first Premier League goal. Sunderland almost caught Liverpool cold right at the death, though, with Wilson Isidor rounding Alisson but seeing his effort cleared off the line by Federico Chiesa.

READ MORE: BREAKING: Florian Wirtz has Liverpool goal taken away from him as statement releasedREAD MORE: Mohamed Salah’s reaction to Arne Slot benching him again as Liverpool boss speaks out

Slot made just one change to the side which won at West Ham on Sunday, with Andy Robertson returning in place of Milos Kerkez. That meant Mo Salah started from the bench again, less than a fortnight before his departure for the Africa Cup of Nations.

Aside from a speculative long-range effort from Dominik Szoboszlai, the early knockings didn’t provide a great deal of entertainment. Liverpool showed their newly promoted opponents respect, wary of their threat on the break, with the energetic Brian Brobbey handed his first Premier League start for the visitors.

Sunderland had chances even before taking the lead, and looked the more likely winners, only for that cruel deflection to deny them. Here are Mirror Football‘s talking points from Anfield.

1. Salah made to wait for return

For a second match on the spin, Arne Slot left Mohamed Salah out of a Liverpool starting XI. The manager said Salah was unhappy at not making it onto the pitch at West Ham, but decided not to mess with a winning formula.

When the second half kicked off, though, the Egyptian was back on the pitch. He replaced Cody Gakpo, who had a quiet first half, and showed urgency immediately by pressing high up the field.

It wasn’t until the 74th minute that Slot made another attacking change, with Hugo Ekitike arriving as an extra body in attack. However, there were still questions, with Gakpo and record signing Alexander Isak both well below par.

2. Wirtz off the mark – or is he?

Florian Wirtz’s long scoreless run continues, though he’ll likely trot out the usual cliche about the result being more important than any individual plaudits. Indeed, based on the earlier chances, there was a feeling Liverpool might need some luck.

We know all about Dominik Szoboszlai’s ability from range. His winner against Arsenal was just one example, and he got a taste for more of the same on Wednesday. After an early effort was easy enough for Roefs, he caused the Sunderland man more issues with a palm-stinging effort just before half-time.

Having a player with that kind of quality in his locker is valuable, of course, but Liverpool will feel they should have far more of a threat. They had two £100m players in their starting line-up, with the luxury of bringing Salah off the bench, but didn’t look like the side with attacking riches for the most part.

3. Gomez makes milestone appearance

Joe Gomez brought up 250 Liverpool appearances when he took to the field. That total has come iin just over 10 seasons, emphasising just how much injuries have got in the way of what could have been an even more impressive career.

The former Charlton man has racked up 40 or more games in just two of his seasons at Anfield, and one of those saw them win the league in 2019/20. He’s still just 28, and in theory could have plenty still to offer if he can put those injury woes behind him.

Gomez started at right-back against Sunderland rather than the centre-back spot he has occupied more frequently this decade. A searching ball provided an early test for visiting keeper Roefs, but there was a hairier moment 10 minutes into the second half when a late tackle on Reinildo earned him a yellow card

4. AFCON could well hurt Sunderland

Sunderland are expected to lose more players to the Africa Cup of Nations than any other Premier League side. Based on some of their football at Anfield, there’s reason to be fearful.

Noah Sadiki, who will travel to the tournament with DR Congo, impressed with his energy in central midfield and wasn;t overawed by Liverpool’s title-winning trio. Reinildo and goalscorer Talbi teamed up well down the left, but both could be off to Morocco later in the month.

There’s still plenty of quality elsewhere in Regis Le Bris’ side, with Omar Alderete perhaps surprisingly the main goal threat from centre-back. Still, it’s understandable that the boss is reportedly after some fresh blood in January with some key men unavailable.

5. Crisis continues

Few Liverpool fans would have been under the illusion that the weekend win at West Ham was enough to cure all ills. Indeed, the first 45 minutes against Sunderland provided enough to remind them there is still plenty of work to be done.

Previous iterations of Liverpool would have found another gear after the restart. Not so today, though, with Sunderland given more reason to think they could do the business with every passing minute.

Eventually they were left thinking ‘why not’ and were rewarded with Talbi’s goal. A 1-1 draw might be the most Liverpool could have hoped for from the game, but the problems appear to run deep with the performance more concerning than the result.

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