Liverpool stumbled their way to a 1–1 draw against a bold Sunderland side at Anfield, needing a big slice of luck late on to avoid what would’ve been a rough Premier League defeat.
A heavy deflection off Nordi Mukiele rescued the Reds, and honestly, it felt like the only way the ball was going in for them. Interestingly, it was Liverpool’s first draw of the entire season across all competitions.
Liverpool posted a photo of the result via their official X account.
View the post below:
Following their recent 2-0 win against West Ham, Liverpool started with good intent. Dominik Szoboszlai and Florian Wirtz both forced Robin Roefs into early saves, and Cody Gakpo’s drifting runs kept pulling the Sunderland defence around.
But the visitors slowly settled, especially after Trai Hume smashed a long-range hit that Alisson just managed to push onto the crossbar.
Right before halftime, Alexis Mac Allister had a real chance to put Liverpool ahead when he nodded Joe Gomez’s cross against the post.
That miss meant Liverpool failed to score in the opening half of four straight league games, something they hadn’t done since February 2023. Arne Slot responded by bringing on Mohamed Salah, who would still join the Egyptian national team for AFCON, as reported by Softfootball.
Sunderland weren’t rattled, though. Omar Alderete clipped the outside of the post with a sharp near-post header, and their pressing kept Liverpool uncomfortable in possession.
Just over 20 minutes from the end, they finally got their reward. Chemsdine Talbi pounced on a misplaced pass from Virgil van Dijk, and his strike took a touch off the Liverpool captain, wrong-footing Alisson as it flew into the far corner.
After taking the lead, Sunderland defended with real discipline, but Liverpool eventually found an equalizer in the 81st minute. Curtis Jones slipped the ball to Wirtz, who cut inside and let fly.
The shot actually looked like it might drift wide before it smacked off Mukiele and spun into the net.
Liverpool threw everything forward in the dying minutes, though Sunderland almost nicked all three points when Wilson Isidor broke free on the counter. Federico Chiesa reacted just in time, clearing the effort off the line and keeping the game level.
Sunderland will probably walk away thinking they missed a massive chance to grab their first win at Anfield since 1983. Liverpool, on the other hand, are left with the reminder that there’s still plenty of work ahead as they search for some real consistency under Slot.
