Liverpool player ratings vs Sunderland: 8/10s shine despite serious injury | Football | Sport

Sunderland’s unbeaten home record finally fell as Liverpool claimed a 1-0 victory at the Stadium of Light. Arne Slot’s side were aiming to bounce back from a defeat against Manchester City that left them out of the Champions League places, and they closed the gap to the top four to three points on an evening where City and Aston Villa also recorded wins.

A solid game for the goalkeeper who had little to do throughout.

On his first start of the season, in a makeshift right-back role, Endo gave away a foul throw with his very first action. His limitations in the final third clearly frustrated Arne Slot, with simple crosses across goal going to the goalkeeper, but Endo is simply not a full-back and his defensive prowess offset his inability to impact the game going forward. Went down in pain after an hour and had to be replaced by Joe Gomez in a concerning injury.

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Made an exceptional block to deny Brian Brobbey early on and will be pleased to have dealt with the Dutch forward’s threat.

Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Liverpool’s captain forced Diarra to deflect the ball into his own net from a corner. A clean sheet to boot caps off a delightful evening for Van Dijk.

Brought in for his familiarity in hostile atmospheres and Liverpool look a much stronger unit at the back with the Scot in it.

Made a few wayward passes but grew into the match after Sunderland were able to cut through the midfield with ease in the first half.

Needs to do much more in the middle of the pitch. Curtis Jones simply has to start over the Argentine.

Liverpool’s liveliest attacker and hit the post after half an hour following some good work by Cody Gakpo. Involved in everything positive for the visitors and he is really getting into his groove in the Premier League now.

Very, very quiet bar a few missed chances that should have found the back of the net. Yet again. You start to wonder if Liverpool would be better off without him right now.

Visibly frustrated with his team-mates after several smart runs forward were not found. Struggled to get into the game.

Looked threatening when he went at Nordi Mukiele, but once again he far too often remained on the fringes of the match. Far too inaccurate with his shooting also.

A very impressive outing from the bench and he will need to be called upon in the following weeks you would expect, with Endo, Jeremie Frimpong and Conor Bradley absent.

Fired over the bar late on as his wait for a goal continues. A very lively cameo.

Federico Chiesa (88′) – N/A