There was no wind or rain on Wearside for Jurgen Klopp to complain about and his Liverpool side duly delivered a victory over a Sunderland team who already look as though they will be heading to the Championship in May.
Klopp has raised plenty of eyebrows in English football since he replaced Brendan Rodgers in October and it turns out even his excuses for bad results are unconventional.
A fascination with the weather is generally regarded as a very British pastime, but it has become a specifically German problem at Liverpool after Klopp complained the volatile English climate is preventing him from playing the type of football he did at Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga.
Having already complained about too much rain, Klopp followed it this week by suggesting in an interview with a German newspaper that the wind in this country is also a problem for his football “philosophy.”
They sound like the sort of excuses offered to irate commuters for a late running train, rather than a creditable reason for a poor performance, but Klopp did not need one here. Liverpool were the epitome of German efficiency.
In surprisingly benign conditions, given the battering much of the North has taken from Storm Frank, Liverpool returned to Merseyside with a comfortable win that lifted them up to seventh in the table.
Stadium of Light possession
Having initially found it difficult to find a way through Sunderland’s packed defence, a goal from Christian Benteke right at the start of the second half enabled them to control the second period with ease.
Sunderland had conceded an early goal in each of their three previous defeats, a failing that had prompted manager Sam Allardyce to accuse his player of leaving their brains in the dressing room. There was no mishaps this time as the Black Cats snuffed out Liverpool’s attacking threat with a surprising degree of ease.
Liverpool have also had their own problems on the road, losing away to both Newcastle and Watford, and the bandwagon has been slowed as a result.
Sunderland came out to frustrate them. It was unambitious and will eventually lead to barbs about his team being boring to watch, but it was exactly what the Black Cats needed after their recent collapses.
Maybe their new found resolve surprised Liverpool, who struggled to get going. Even when the visitors got a chance to counter-attack, they constantly ran into red and white shirts, a defensive performance that was well marshalled by Lee Cattermole.
The captain tends to make Sunderland look a better team, at least when he is fit enough to play, which has not been often enough for Allardyce. The Sunderland manager admitted Cattermole had become an even better player in his eyes because of how much the team had missed him during his latest injury absence. He is not the first Sunderland manager to learn that.
Sunderland's attacking statistics
Liverpool were poor, Roberto Firmino summing up their early efforts when he was played in on goal by Philippe Coutinho, but rather than shoot, he almost fell over the ball and kicked it straight out for a goalkick.
Sunderland ‘s supporters, who had turned up fearing the worst, grew more boisterous and the players grew in confidence. They even managed to cause a few Liverpool hearts to flutter when they attacked.
Their best moment came when Cattermole won the ball just inside the Liverpool half and passed it quickly forward into the feet of Jermain Defoe. He spun away from Dejan Lovren and with no challenge made as he advanced to the edge of the area, the striker’s swerving shot was tipped over by Simon Mignolet.
That belatedly sparked Liverpool into life, Firmino making a fool of Yann M’Vila with his close ball control, before smashing a right-footed shot against the post. From the resulting corner, Lovren scooped a shot high and wide.
Their best chance, though, fell to Firmino ten minutes before half time when Nathaniel Clyne sent over a perfect cross for the Brazilian to run on to, but he put his header straight at Mannone. Either side of the goalkeeper and it would have been a goal.
If Allardyce was delighted with his team’s start to the first half, he will have been dismayed by what happened at the start of the second.
Allardyce had only just sat down in the dugout when Liverpool passed quickly and decisively through Sunderland’s midfield, which allowed Clyne to find Adam Lallana, who prodded a pass through the defence for Christian Benteke to steer beyond Mannone. After 45 minutes of frustration, it had taken Liverpool just 22 seconds to score after the break.
Liverpool's attacking statistics
Benteke should have scored another in stoppage time when he was left with just Mannone to beat, but the Belgian, not for the first time, failed to convert when he had time to think about things.
Sunderland tried to respond,but they lack the quality to create enough chances to beat teams of Liverpool’s quality and only a shot from Fabio Borini tested Mignolet.
Sunderland rarely looked like finding an equaliser and with both Jack Rodwell and Sebastian Coates limping off with injuries, five successive defeats mean the Black Cats head into the New Year fearing what is to come in May.
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