PREMIER LEAGUE: LIVERPOOL 0 – 0 SUNDERLAND December 6, 2014 23:00 Anfield, Liverpool Referee: N. Swarbrick LIVE COMMENTARY And thats it for this afternoon. Thank you for following the LIVE action. Ive been Jonathan Davies - farewell until next time! Its finished goalless at Anfield. Sunderland will take a point, but there is plenty for Liverpool to think about with their Champions League decider against Basel coming up in midweek. FULL TIME - LIVERPOOL 0 SUNDERLAND 0 90 + 3 Thats all from Anfield and we have a stalemate. 90 + 1 Liverpool are frustrated as they should have had a corner. Moreno embarked on a strong run down the left and his cross deflected behind off Cattermole, but Neil Swarbrick obviously didnt see it as he awards a goal kick. 90 Were going to have three minutes of stoppage time. Can either side find a winner? 88 A loose pass from Gerrard goes straight to Wickham but he makes amends by winning the ball back and is eventually awarded a free kick for his troubles. 87 IT JUST WONT BREAK FOR LIVERPOOL! Sterling chips a ball into the box which Lambert wins in the air again and finds Markovic, but Sunderland throw bodies in the way and scramble clear. 85 Five minutes to go at Anfield and the home fans are getting frustrated as their side give away a cheap free kick after Skrtel catches Wickham with an arm. Hes lucky as he could have been carded for that. 83 PENALTY APPEAL FOR LIVERPOOL! Sterling causes Sunderland all sorts of problems with another good run before going down after being clipped by Brown. The referee says no and it would have been harsh to be fair - contact was minimal. 81 GREAT STRIKE FROM GOMEZ! Good persistance from Buckley on the edge of the area sees the ball break for Gomez, who strikes it very well but Mignolet gets a strong hand to push the shot away. 80 Yellow Card Will Buckley 80 Gerrard is stood over the dead ball again for Liverpool after Buckley goes straight into the book for a foul on the left. But his delivery is gathered very well by Pantilimon. 79 Substitution Adam Johnson Will Buckley 78 Substitution Coutinho Lazar Marković 78 That was Coutinhos last action as both sides make their final changes of the day. Lazar Markovic comes on in his place, while Will Buckley takes Adam Johnsons place for the visitors. 77 WHAT A RUN FROM STERLING! A jinking run from the teenager sees him reach the edge of the area before he lays the ball off for an unmarked Coutinho to strike, but Pantilimon is once again equal to the fierce effort. 76 Arsenal are on the brink of a brilliant turnaround at the Britannia. Santi Cazorla and Aaron Ramsey have reduced the deficit to 3-2 against Stoke, while QPR are 2-0 up against Burnley through Leroy Fer and Charlie Austin. 73 Gerrard is very eager to make an impression here. Hes just delivered another wonderful cross which Lambert nodded down for Coutinho, whose powerful effort was well blocked. 70 Substitution Sebastian Larsson Lee Cattermole 70 Substitution Jozy Altidore Ricardo Álvarez 70 There is activity on the Sunderland bench and they are going to make a double substitution. Ricky Alvarez and Lee Cattermole come on with Altidore and Larsson making way. 69 Gerrard gets involved immediately as he is brought down for a free kick over on the far touchline. He whips in the delivery himself, but his team-mates are unable to capitalise. 67 Substitution Adam Lallana Steven Gerrard 67 Theres a huge roar around Anfield as Steven Gerrard is introduced with a quarter of the game remaining. Lallana is the man to make way for Liverpool. 65 ALMOST FOR LALLANA! Henderson breaks into the box and finds his England team-mate unmarked, but Lallana wants one touch too many and Sunderland clear once more. 64 Coutinho is next to try his luck for Brendan Rodgers side. He runs at the defence and gets the ball onto his right foot but misses the target by quite a way in the end. They are all positive signs for the hosts though. 63 Sterling gets involved again as he cuts inside for the left and lays the ball off for Lucas to run onto and shoot, but Pantilimon gets down well to hold the drilled effort. 61 Well, you wouldnt have thought so after that delivery from Henderson! He gets it all wrong and sends it flying way over the bar into the Kop. Thats where Gerrard would have been very effective. 60 Yellow Card Liam Bridcutt 60 A trademark burst from Sterling down the Liverpool left sees his run eventually halted by Bridcutt, who has his name taken by the referee. This free kick is in a dangerous area. 57 Liverpool are lacking fire power up front at the moment with Daniel Sturridge and Mario Balotelli both out injured. Sturridge or Luis Suarez were on target in six of the last seven meetings with Sunderland. They are clearly feeling the repercussions of their absences. 55 A fast-flowing counter attack from Sunderland sees Wickham peel away from Johnson on the left side of the area, and his shot deflects behind for a corner. 54 CHANCE FOR WICKHAM! Thats the best chance of the match so far by a mile! The corner is only half cleared and falls for Wickham who is on his own, but he fires the ball just wide on the left-footed volley. 53 A cleverly worked free kick from Sunderland sees OShea nod on Larssons chipped ball into the box. Altidore attacks it but Skrtel gets there first to clear. 51 Yellow Card Lucas Leiva 51 Lucas is the first man to go into the referees notebook this afternoon for bringing down Gomez with what was a professional foul. The Sunderland man would have been away but for his intervention. 49 Liverpool link the play up well down the left and Morenos cross almost reaches Henderson on the volley, but a trailing Sunderland leg flicks the ball off his toes and away. 48 Space opened up in front of Gomez there and he drove at the Liverpool defence before his shot took a deflection and went behind for a corner. Mignolet collects it well though against his old club. 47 Liverpool go straight onto the attack with Coutinhos long-range effort taking a deflection and going behind for a corner. It comes to nothing though as Sunderland clear. 46 Here we go! Liverpool get us back underway. The teams are back out and the second half is set to get underway. Will the half-time team talks have made any difference? Were about to find out. The only other goals from the Premier Leagues 3.00 kick-offs have come at the Britannia, and Stoke completed a dream first half against Arsenal by going 3-0 up through Jonathan Walters before the break. Plenty of improvement needed from both sides going into the second half. They started well and were comfortable in possession, but the standard gradually decreased as the half went on with very few highlights. HALF TIME - LIVERPOOL 0 SUNDERLAND 0 45 + 1 Sunderland have a corner and the last chance of the first half. Brown gets his head on the ball but sends it into the Kop and the referee swifts blows his whistle. 45 Vergini needs to be very careful. Sterling did dive over his trailing leg which the referee saw, but the right back then waved an imaginary card in protest and could have received a second one himself there. 43 Two minutes left of what has been a very disappointing first half in all fairness. The message from both managers will not differ too much you can imagine. 41 Yellow Card Santiago Vergini 41 That just summed up the first half in my opinion. Coutinho burst forward for the hosts and had the crowd on their feet, but ran straight into the defence when all he had to do was knock it round and he was in. 39 There has been developments elsewhere in the top flight and Stoke have doubled their lead over Arsenal. Bojan Krkic has got their second goal of the day. 37 That was a nice idea from Altidore as he received the ball on the edge of the area before threading it through the legs of the defender, but the covering man was able to clear it to safety. 35 Wickham has another penalty appeal waved away by the referee. He was under pressure as he burst into the area but he did go down very easily. 33 Were back underway and Sterling gets involved for the first time but his cross deflects into the air off OShea and all 68 off Pantilimon has to stretch to collect the ball. 31 We have a break in play here after Moreno went down injured for Liverpool. He landed very awkwardly from an aerial challenge and hes holding his neck. It did look very painful! 30 The biggest cheer at Anfield this afternoon rings out as Reveillere makes an unforced error in conceding a corner. A great last-ditch interception denies Henderson a shot on goal. 28 There isnt too much else to report on from the Premier League so far today other than Newcastle breaking Chelseas unbeaten start to the season earlier. Stoke took a first-minute lead over Arsenal at the Britannia through former Liverpool striker Peter Crouch, but thats about it for now. 26 Liverpool burst forward with purpose as Henderson sends Coutinho on his way. The little Brazilian cuts inside from the left and gets a shot away which Pantilimon does well to hold after getting down at his near post. 24 At the other end, a dangerous cross into the area from Johnson on the right hand side is well dealt with by Skrtel. Sunderland have another throw in on the right hand side. 23 Better from Liverpool. They work the ball out to Lallana who displays some trademark footwork on the right before crossing for Lambert, but his former Southampton team-mate cannot hit the target. 20 Another stat that hugely favours Liverpool in the history of this fixture is the fact that Sunderland have failed to win on their last 15 visits to Anfield. 18 Good build up from Sunderland on the right hand side between Vergini and Johnson. It results with the latter whipping in a cross but its overhit and runs behind for a goal kick. 16 The corner is cleared by Liverpool but the ball breaks kindly for Jordi Gomez from 30 yards, but he shows that he is very much left footed as his attempt with his right flies well wide of the target. 15 CORNER FOR SUNDERLAND! The game suddenly jolts back into life as Liverpool knock the ball around but Skrtel fails to control a simple pass to feet and cannot stop it from running behind. 13 This is a fixture that generally does not favour Sunderland. They have only won four times against Liverpool in the last 50 years. 10 Sunderland enjoy a decent spell of possession and it results in Reveillere finding himself in space on the left, but he overhits his cross and it goes out for a throw in. 8 It is worth noting that Sunderland have only won one of their last nine meetings with Liverpool, that was back in March 2012 when Nicklas Bendtner scored the only goal of the game. 6 Both sides have settled down pretty quickly in all fairness. Theyre knocking the ball around nicely when they get possession and look dangerous going forward. 4 Liverpool very nearly got in behind then. A lovely move across the length of the field saw Johnson surge into the area and attempt a one-two with Lallana, but the return pass isnt the best and goes behind for a goal kick. 2 PENALTY APPEAL FOR SUNDERLAND! Wickham shows good strength to hold off his marker and flicks the ball over Skrtels head. Hes clipped by the Slovakian and goes down, but Neil Swarbrick waves away his appeals. 1 SUNDERLAND GET US UNDERWAY KICKING FROM LEFT TO RIGHT! -The teams are out and kick off is imminent. Neil Swarbrick is our referee today. His last appointment with each side has produced a draw - Liverpools stalemate here with Hull and Sunderlands on the opening day at West Bromwich Albion. -This is the 25th meeting between the sides in the Premier League and Sunderlands three victories have come away from Anfield, theyll be hoping for a change in fortunes this afternoon. -Its ninth against 14th in the Premier League. Liverpool are looking to make it three wins in a row, while Sunderland are hoping to register their third victory in the league this season. -SUNDERLAND SUBS: Cattermole, Rodwell, Fletcher, Alvarez, Mannone, Buckley, Robson. -SUNDERLAND (4-1-4-1): Pantilimon; Vergini, Brown, OShea (c), Reveillere; Bridcutt; Johnson, Jordi Gomez, Larsson, Wickham; Altidore. -LIVERPOOL SUBS: Jones, Jose Enrique, Lovren, Gerrard, Can, Allen, Markovic. -LIVERPOOL (4-2-3-1): Mignolet; Johnson, Skrtel, Toure, Moreno; Henderson (c), Lucas; Lallana, Coutinho, Sterling; Lambert. -The big news is that Steven Gerrard drops to the bench for the second Saturday running. He is replaced by Phillipe Coutinho in one of two Liverpool changes from their win over Leicester in midweek, the other sees Alberto Moreno come into defence. Five Sunderland changes from their 4-1 drubbing by Manchester City see Wes Brown and Adam Johnson return from injury, while Liam Bridcutt, Jordi Gomez and Jozy Altidore are all in the starting 11. -Good afternoon and welcome to the LIVE text commentary of Liverpools Barclays Premier League clash with Sunderland. Im Jonathan Davies and Ill be guiding you through the action at Anfield.
Posted on: Mon, 08 Dec 2014 09:11:36 +0000