Sunderland vs Liverpool match preview

Liverpool head to Sunderland on Saturday keen to get their first win of the Premier League season, but face a stern test in Martin O’Neill’s side.

A brilliant display against Manchester City makes up their only point this season, which was sandwiched between two sub-standard performances in the defeats against West Brom and Arsenal.

Much has been made of their (lack of) striker situation after letting Andy Carroll go out on loan to West Ham and not signing a replacement.

Luis Suárez’s all-round performances have been top-class and if he could add finishing to his repertoire then Liverpool would probably be in the top three, as opposed to the bottom three where they find themselves currently. 

New signing Fabio Borini looks off the pace at the moment, but he is young and it will take him time to adapt to the pace of the Premier League.

With Michael Owen moving to Stoke, at lot of people have questioned Brendan Rodgers for not signing him, but he is not exactly guaranteed to be fit enough to play a consistent sequence of games.

The find of the season, with Swansea’s Michu, is without doubt Raheem Sterling, who has played above his 17 years of age. He is an exciting talent who will potentially be scaring defenders for Liverpool and England (or Jamaica, apparently).

Their opponents on Saturday, Sunderland, have played a game less than Liverpool and are also without a win this season – or a defeat. Two encouraging away draws at Arsenal, and Swansea have shown they are going to be a tough team to beat this season.

This weekend is their first home game of the season: expect the fans and the players to be well up for claiming their first win of the season.

Prediction: I believe this game has a draw written all over it. 1-1

Paul Jones, football correspondent