Sunderland vs Liverpool Preview, Team News, Likely Line-Ups, Key Man & Predicted Score

Liverpool visit the Stadium of Light on Sunday afternoon looking to get their season back on track after successive 1-0 defeats.

The Reds crashed out of the Capital One Cup on Wednesday night following a 1-0 defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford, with Javier Hernandez scoring the winner just after half time.

That game came just days after Liverpool saw their unbeaten start to the Premier League ended with a 1-0 home defeat to Southampton, so Brendan Rodger’s will be desperate to get back to winning ways this weekend.

The Merseysiders will visit a manager-less Sunderland side who sit bottom of the table with only 1 point from their first five games. The Black Cats lost 3-0 to West Brom last weekend with Paolo Di Canio sacked the following day, although caretaker boss Kevin Ball did pick his players up to beat Peterborough 2-0 on Tuesday in the League Cup and he should take heart from that performance heading into his first Premier League game in charge.

Team News

The hosts have been dealt a huge blow with the news that striker Steven Fletcher has been ruled out for up to six weeks with a shoulder injury suffered last week against the Baggies.

Jose Altidore is therefore likely to start up front and Emanuele Giaccherini is expected to retain his place after scoring in midweek.

Wes Brown and Phil Bardsley remain sidelined while Fabio Borini is ineligible to play against his parent club, but Lee Cattermole is expected to make his first league start of the season in midfield.

Luis Suarez is in line to start his first Premier League game of the season after returning from his 10-match ban in the cup on Wednesday. The Uruguayan is expected to support Daniel Sturridge in attack along with Victor Moses.

Rodgers is sweating on the fitness of centre-back Daniel Agger who missed the midweek defeat to United with a knock, but Glen Johnson and Aly Cissokho are both certain to miss the game through injury.

The Reds played 3-5-2 at Old Trafford in midweek but could revert back to a more traditional back 4 on Sunday with Jose Enrique and Kolo Toure filling the full-back slots.  Philippe Coutinho remains out with a shoulder problem.

Likely Line-Ups

Key Man

Luis Suarez: A decent comeback on Wednesday was almost marked by a goal when his free-kick struck the bar and the controversial striker is likely to be at the thick of things this weekend. If he clicks with Sturridge, it could spell trouble for Sunderland.

Predicted Score

Sunderland 0-2 Liverpool: The home side have been poor this season and have only beaten the Reds three times in 24 attempts in the league, so we can see Liverpool coming away with all three points on Sunday.

What would be your line-up for the game and what’s your predicted score? Share  your thoughts in the comments section below.