Liverpool manager Arne Slot watched his team fail to assert themselves against a newly-promoted visitor, then saw it go from bad to worse at Anfield.
Chemsdine Talbi took a Virgil van Dijk giveaway and scored with a shot that deflected off the Dutchman’s rear end as Sunderland took a 1-0 lead in the second half and held on tight.
MORE — Liverpool v Sunderland recap, video highlights
Alexander Isak struggled again for Liverpool, who kept Mohamed Salah out of the XI for the second-straight game.
Salah entered and improved Liverpool’s play but they still needed a bit of luck just to get a draw. Florian Wirtz dribbled through a pair of Sunderland defenders but needed a wicked turn on his shot to produce what’s gone down as a Nordi Mukiele own goal.
Here’s what Slot said after the draw.
Arne Slot reaction — Liverpool boss speaks after laborious draw with Sunderland
What did you make of the game? “Bit similar as in the weekend, a game where we didn’t concede a lot and we didn’t create a lot. And today of course very unlucky with the goal we conceded. A deflection that can go anywhere but unfortunately it goes in.
“We tried everything to make the winner but in the end we were lucky as well because they went 1-on-1 with Alisson.”
Federico Chiesa with a huge goal line clearance: “That’s what you want a player to do, give everything in a situation. Just keep running and cleared the ball off the line. Another game where we scored less than we could’ve scored and the opponent were good with their chances.”
The first half seemed very slow: “You have to take into account how the other team is playing. They either go really aggressive and press high, or go really, really compact when low. A lot of other teams have had problems with them. They don’t concede a lot of goals, only four times they have conceded more than one goal. With so many bodies in and around the 18-yard-box it’s difficult to find the free player.”
Wirtz’s goal went down as an own goal: “There’s a difference between hitting a shot from 11-12 yards and hitting a yard from 20 yards. He might’ve been lucky with the way it went in but it was a good chance for him to score. Not a lot of chances for both teams but we had a bit more and were unlucky in the second half. We came back strong.”
Will you use Salah more because he’s leaving for AFCON in January, or is it just about picking the best team for a given opponent: “That’s always the situation. It has nothing to do with Mo or anyone,”
