Liverpool’s festive period momentum stalled against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light in a what can only be seen as dropped points.
Less than 48 hours after a gritty win against Manchester City, Liverpool gifted the Black Cats a draw, courtesy of two penalties.
The Reds showed characteristic moments of their typical dynamic, free-flowing football but simply could not sustain the effort required to see out the match. Liverpool also looked understandably leggy as the second half progressed despite summoning a late surge to try and force a winner.
The cost of the energy expended against City became visible on Wearside, where the home side made very little effort to attack Liverpool, much like their recent visit to Anfield.
Unfortunately, they did not need to muster much going forward with two opportunities from the spot and Jermain Defoe delivering. Scheduling for this run of matches did Liverpool no favors.
This was more a stumble and less a complete setback.
Much may be made of the decision to only make one change to the starting lineup but Sunderland just proved extremely difficult to breakdown and are fighting for survival. They could not have been taken lightly.
Here are four findings from the match.
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