Liverpool host Sunderland at Anfield on Wednesday evening, as they look to continue to build some Premier League momentum after temporarily arresting an alarming slide with a 2-0 away win against West Ham United on Sunday evening.
Liverpool had lost nine games of their previous 12 across competitions before that win against West Ham, but with Florian Wirtz putting in an eye-catching performance and Alexander Isak getting on the scoresheet at the London Stadium, Arne Slot will hope for that confidence to carry his two big summer signings on to more consistently impactful performances.
Sunderland, meanwhile, are in a heady place, up in sixth place on their return to the Premier League this season. They have 22 points in 13 games, one more than Liverpool and come into this game with confidence particularly high, after a superb comeback win to beat Bournemouth 3-2 at the weekend.
Here are five things to watch out for ahead of Wednesday’s game at Anfield:
What do Liverpool do with Mohamed Salah?
Alexander Isak of Liverpool celebrates after scoring a goal Izzy Poles – AMA/Getty Images
Mohamed Salah was dropped from the starting line-up for the game against West Ham and didn’t even come off the bench in the second half. After an underwhelming start to the season, Arne Slot finally made the call to bench Salah, with Liverpool opting for a different set-up in attack: Dominik Szoboszlai started on the right wing, with Florian Wirtz slotting in as the no.10. Szoboszlai wasn’t as high up on the right flank as Salah would usually be, so that meant additional support to the right-back.
Salah’s defensive work-rate has come under scrutiny during Liverpool’s terrible run of recent form, although it was the same role that he executed last season. However, with the addition of Wirtz meaning that a midfielder has had to be sacrificed, Liverpool could perhaps do with more defensive work from their right winger.
However, like in the games against Aston Villa and Real Madrid which Liverpool won last month, Salah’s attacking play still has an impact, which means Slot has a big decision to make. With Salah set to leave for the African Cup of Nations on Dec. 15, does he continue to bench his star man to allow the others to get more used to playing with each other? Or does he trust Salah’s quality to come through?
Are Sunderland the real deal? We’ll know in the next week
Sunderland’s has been a return to the Premier League from their dreams. However, this trip to Anfield marks the start of a run of fixtures by the end of whic their ambitions for the season will be defined. They face Liverpool and Manchester City away, and that is followed by the big Tyne-Wear derby against Newcastle United at the Stadium of Light next weekend.
Given this start, the club should consider avoiding relegation as a non-negotiable. However, if Sunderland manage positive results in each of the three games they have coming up, European qualification could come up on the agenda, even though mid-December would still be too early to mark them down as nailed-on contenders for it.
They’ve done superbly so far, and as the win against Chelsea and draw against Arsenal showed, they have the ability to compete against the Premier League’s big boys. If they travel well to Anfield and the Etihad, who can stop the Sunderland fans from dreaming as high as they possibly can?
Have Liverpool turned a corner?
The win against West Ham was essential, but it’s only a start for Liverpool. They haven’t yet gotten out of the rut. The performance against West Ham, though adequate, was still not up to the level that we saw from the defending champions last season. Besides, West Ham were really poor in that game — they ended up with not a shot on target.
Liverpool’s Arne Slot admitted he is relived at securing a much-needed win. Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images.
Liverpool may have won against Villa and Real Madrid last month, but they followed that up by losing three games with an aggregate score of 10-1. The West Ham win gives them a bit of platform, but they need to build on it. After Sunderland, they face Leeds, Brighton, Tottenham Hotspur and Wolves in a run of games that they will have to take maximum points from if they are to compete at the end of the table where they wish to be.
This is a bunch of seasoned winners capable of competing at the top and winning games consistently, but at the moment, are playing bereft of the confidence that wins breed. They haven’t yet had that run of wins… and it needs to begin now before it’s too late for Slot to save Liverpool’s season.
Can Xhaka and Sadiki win the midfield battle?
Ed Sykes/Getty Images
The base for Sunderland’s excellent performances have come from Granit Xhaka and Noah Sadiki performing superbly in their midfield, which has given them the base both in attack and defence. Against Liverpool, they’ll come up against Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister, both of whom are under the microscope for Liverpool’s recent woes.
The lack of physicality and ball-winning from the duo have left Liverpool hugely susceptible to counterattacks from their opponents, and that has been magnified by their lack of recovery pace.
Another intriguing mini battle will be Xhaka coming up against former Bayer Leverkusen team-mate Florian Wirtz. The playmaker was in his groove against West Ham, gliding into spaces in behind the opposition midfield and orchestrating attacks from there. Liverpool will once again likely have him as the fulcrum around which the rest of their attack functions. If Xhaka and Sadiki can nullify Wirtz’s impact, then that sets the foundation for Sunderland’s counterattacks.
Liverpool’s right-back dilemma
Joe Gomez put in a positive performance against West Ham, in his first league start of the season. Slot had remarked before the game that he made the change to ensure he had four defenders in his back four, having previously tried out Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones at right-back.
Now, Gomez’s fitness issues are well-known. Slot is on record saying he has struggled to complete all team training sessions regularly, and has been taking injections to manage pain in his knee. With Conor Bradley and Jeremie Frimpong both out injured, that question arises once again: Do Liverpool take the chance with Gomez’s fitness and risk losing him to yet another long-term injury? Do they make do with Szoboszlai or Jones in that position and leave them vulnerable on that flank?
It’s not an easy decision for Slot to make.
