Liverpool (0) Sunderland (0): Reds Draw a Blank Against Dogged Black Cats

Sunderland just keep on frustrating; the Black Cats look to have recovered from the thrashing they got at the hands of Manchester City midweek, putting in a resolutely defensive performance to deny Liverpool the chance to claim their third win in one week.

To be fair, the hosts did little to lay claim to it — of their 15-shots on goal, a mere two were on target as their poor run in front of net continued in earnest. A strike from Philippe Coutinho after good work from Raheem Sterling got the Brazilian on the end of the ball and a somewhat dodgy penalty appeal from the winger were two of the only events of note for the Reds, but if you want to talk chances, even though Gus Poyet’s side set up more to stifle than create, they came the closest to getting on the score-sheet.

Wes Brown missed his chance to put his side ahead on the stroke of half-time when he headed over Sebastian Larsson’s corner unchallenged and Jordi Gomez’s long range effort stung the palms of Simon Mignolet as the visitors looked to heap misery on the struggling shot-stopper. Despite the creative influences of both Coutinho and Adam Lallana, gracing the pitch at the same time for the first time in a long time, Liverpool struggled to create anything threatening, often running into a Black Cats defense that was ten men deep.

The introduction of Steven Gerrard, rested ahead of Tuesday’s all important meeting with FC Basel in the Champions League, midway through the second half lifted Brendan Rodgers side somewhat, but the skipper failed to drag a rather pedestrian performance up a notch — something that would of been more than welcome with such a crucial clash just over the horizon. Momentum, as they say, is everything and on the back of two wins and a jump up the table, the Reds seem to have lost theirs.

Still, one can’t discount the performance; anytime Liverpool keep a clean sheet, it almost feels like a win. The re-introduction of both Lucas and Kolo Toure into the team has brought a greater level of calm and organization to a backline that’s been desperately in need of both. Although they still look a bit suspect at times, the mere fact that they’ve conceded only once in three matches is cause for optimism. Now, if only they could sort out their problems at the other end of the pitch…

–Steven