Liverpool will hope to continue with their gradual resurgence when they visit the Stadium of Light for their clash with Sunderland on Saturday.
The Reds were held to a 0-0 draw by the Black Cats at Anfield when the sides last met in the first-half of the season. That drab contest came in the embryonic stages of Liverpool’s current policy of managing Steven Gerrard’s game-time as the skipper was dropped from the starting XI despite producing a man-of-the-match performance in a 3-1 win at Leicester City three days earlier.
Results back Brendan Rodgers’ policy on Gerrard because Liverpool have since won six of their last 11 matches in all competitions in a run that included just one loss. That is much better than the six losses and just three wins they recorded in the 11 games that preceded the change.
That improvement has increased the Reds’ chances of securing a top-four spot. They have risen from the bottom-half of the table in November to eighth coming into this contest.
After witnessing his side progress to the FA Cup fourth round thanks to a Gerrard inspired 1-2 win against AFC Wimbledon, Rodgers will hope that his side build on that and continue to enhance their top-four challenge by collecting maximum points at Sunderland.
The Black Cats are the toughest side to beat of all the teams outside the top seven in the table. They have lost just six games this term but are still in the bottom-half of the table after dropping a lot of points in draws.
Gus Poyet will eye an upset in this game after their FA Cup triumph against Leeds United. Sunderland may have been playing a Championship side in that 1-0 cup win, but Poyet was understandably delighted because the Black Cats had won just once at the Stadium of Light before in all competitions this season.
Sunderland team news
- Jack Rodwell is expected to miss out and Lee Cattermole also a doubt.
- Patrick van Aanholt scored the winner on his return to action against Leeds after suffering a dislocated shoulder, but is unlikely to feature from the off.
- Anthony Reveillere, Vito Mannone and Ricky Alvarez are all doubts and will be assessed closer to kick-off.
Liverpool team news
- Daniel Sturridge, Glen Johnson, Joe Allen and Adam Lallana are all sidelined.
- Javier Manquillo is a doubt and could miss out.
- Suso and Jon Flanagan are still not fit enough to start games after recovering from injury problems.
- Kolo Toure is on international duty with Ivory Coast.
Sunderland vs Liverpool prediction
Poyet may turn to Liam Bridcutt as the holding midfielder in a 4-1-4-1 formation should Cattermole miss out. Billy Jones could replace Van Aanholt at left-back, while Steven Fletcher will probably lead the attacks as the lone centre forward.
Dejan Lovren’s return to fitness will be a big boost for Liverpool in the absence of Toure, but he may be forced to settle for a place on the bench with Rodgers expected to persist with a three-man defence of Emre Can, Martin Skrtel and Mamadou Sakho.
Rodgers may have to make exceptions to his policy on Gerrard because, if Manquillo misses out, Jordan Henderson may start as a right wing-back compelling the skipper to start alongside Lucas Leiva as the central midfielders.
Liverpool are favourites for this game but the Reds will have to be careful of the way they defend against the threat of Connor Wickham because as a striker playing in midfield, his natural instincts are to make diagonal runs into the box from the left flank, so he will aim to exploit the space behind Henderson and to the side of Can.
Since Can and Henderson are central midfielders who will assume the right centre-back and right wing-back positions, they may have moments when they switch off defensively and Wickham could pounce on that.
