Liverpool 1-1 Sunderland: Salah dropped again but Arne Slot’s side struggle for inspiration
Not even Anfield is a safe space for Liverpool these days. Arne Slot’s side looked so vulnerable against Sunderland, in front of their own fans, and not even the decision to drop Mohamed Salah for the second league game in a row, on the basis of poor goalscoring form and an inability to defend, could make them look stable.
A deflected strike from Florian Wirtz rescued a point nine minutes from time, cancelling out Chemsdine Talbi’s second-half opener to deny the Black Cats a win they would have cherished for a long time.
Talbi scored after an hour of football had been spent by both sides in a cat-and-mouse display across a field of green, Liverpool trying to remember why they were there. Their passing was skittish, the defending unsure. Wirtz had a few nice moments and Dominik Szoboszlai’s long-range effort was palmed away, but other than those, there was hardly the inspiration Slot had been hoping for when he dropped Salah, and after the break he quickly gave the nod to the Egyptian, who had been pining on the sidelines.
After Liverpool failed to clear their lines in the 67th minute the Black Cats pounced, and Talbi took the chance from distance. It hit Virgil van Dijk’s backside but then that actually gave it a nice spin and it kept dipping, sailing tantalisingly beyond Alisson to nestle into the bottom left corner.
It looked like Liverpool were heading for another loss until Wirtz finally brought the inspiration. The German wove through the Sunderland box leaving defenders in his wake, before firing goalwards, with a deflection off Nordi Mukiele to take the ball beyond the goalkeeper. The goal was credited as an own goal.
Liverpool had had their response and for the 10 odd minutes that remained in the game they laid siege to the Sunderland box, seeking a late winner. But it was the Black Cats who in fact came closest to claiming three points after Wilson Isidor went on a run and rounded Alisson, but Federico Chiesa darted back to clear.
