Sunderland 0-1 Liverpool: 5 Talking Points
Liverpool beat Sunderland 1-0 at the Stadium of Light to go seventh in the Premier League table, and level on points with fierce rivals Manchester United. Christian Benteke once again scored the winner for Reds, as Vito Mannone was in top form for Sunderland.The Reds have now won back to back games, after beating high flying Leicester City in their previous game.Here are the 5 talking points from the game.
#1 Christian Benteke scores, but poor performance once again
Belgian international Christian Benteke, who scored the winner against Leicester City in the last game, was on the scoresheet again today against Sunderland. The 25-year-old scored from Lallana’s pass just after the break to give Liverpool the lead. He has now scored 6 league goals since his big-money move from Aston Villa, despite that his performances fail to impress. His work rate is a big concern as many think he doesn’t fit into Klopp’s system.
Benteke’s off the ball movement is poor, and he simply doesn’t run as much his manager would want him to. All of this was evident from the clear chance he missed in the dying seconds of the game, despite being clear on goal. Daniel Sturridge is close to returning to full fitness, and Divock Origi has also done well in the last few games, but it’d be difficult for Klopp to drop Benteke who has been Liverpool’s top goal scorer until he can be certain about Sturridge’s fitness.