Liverpool and Sunderland went head-to-head in a Premier League fixture on Wednesday.
Arne Slot was searching for a second straight league win for the first time in well over a month.
In a bid to build on last weekend’s performance against West Ham United, Mohamed Salah was benched again as the Dutchman named nearly the exact same eleven that began the win over the Hammers.
Liverpool started the tie in pretty uninspiring fashion, struggling to cause Sunderland any real problems.
It saw Slot to look to his bench at the break, bringing on Salah for Cody Gakpo.
However, it was Sunderland who struck first with Chemsdine Talbi smashing an outside-the-box effort past Alisson in the 67th minute.
It seemed unlikely Liverpool would get back into the match, but Florian Wirtz’s moment of individual brilliance put them back on level terms in the 81st minute to rescue a point.
Who was your Man of the Match against Sunderland?
Liverpool changes will be made vs Leeds United
Regardless of what happened on December 3, Slot’s decision to pick the same starting eleven means we will see a different team against Leeds United on Saturday.
It will be the Reds’ third game in six days, and the manager has already confirmed three Liverpool players can’t start three games in a row in such a short space of time.
They are Joe Gomez, Alexander Isak, and Florian Wirtz, all of whom could now feasibly be dropped this weekend.
Hugo Ekitike would likely come in for Isak, Salah could return on the right, and allow Dominik Szoboszlai to play through the middle over Wirtz.
However, right-back remains a problem as Gomez is the only somewhat natural option in that role, while Conor Bradley and Jeremie Frimpong are out.
We won’t see the best Liverpool for a while
Though dropping Salah and starting Gomez at right-back helped Liverpool against West Ham, it’s not a long-term solution.
Szoboszlai moves inside a lot when used off the right, which forces Gomez to push higher to provide the width.
This isn’t really the natural centre-back’s strength, and it made Liverpool’s shape look slightly odd against Sunderland.
However, we will not be able to see if the Szoboszlai position change truly works until Frimpong is back fit.
The Dutchman is a very pacey, attack-minded full-back who would likely work well alongside the Hungarian.
But he’s not expected to return from injury for a couple of weeks, so fans will have to remain patient with this makeshift set-up for the time being.
Alexander Isak remains isolated
Isak scored a rare goal for Liverpool against West Ham on Sunday, a moment fans no doubt hoped would be a turning point.
However, especially in the first 45 against Sunderland, the Reds once again offered the Swede little to no service.
He hardly touched the ball in the first half and completed just one pass before the interval.
Liverpool’s players are not used to playing with a traditional number nine, but it’s something they must adapt to as soon as possible.
Receive a digest of our best Liverpool content each week direct to your mailbox
