Analysis: Sunderland attack fails to spark

Sunderland’s impressive Stadium of Light form this season—seven wins and five draws before kick-off—was not enough to ignite their attack against Liverpool, who left the north east with a 1-0 victory that rarely looked in doubt.

Head coach Régis Le Bris kept faith with the shape that had served his side so well on home soil, making only one alteration to the XI beaten at Arsenal as Nilson Angulo replaced Chemsdine Talbi on the left. The tweak appeared designed to test a Liverpool back line decimated by injuries at right-back, yet Angulo seldom troubled stand-in Wataru Endo, and the hosts’ threat down that flank never materialised.

Without the composure of the injured Granit Xhaka, watching from the stands in a protective boot, Sunderland’s passing rhythms were hurried. Liverpool’s superior possession was expected, but the home side’s inability to retain the ball allowed the visitors to turn the screw as the match wore on. Gaps opened between midfield and defence, and only Liverpool’s lack of ruthlessness kept the scoreline respectable.

Alisson, celebrating his 250th Premier League appearance for the Reds, was a virtual spectator for long spells, forced into just one routine save in the opening period and otherwise untested. Le Bris will take heart from a club-record home run that has transformed the Stadium of Light into a fortress, yet the sobering reality remains: when the stakes were raised against elite opposition, Sunderland’s forward line failed to fire.