Reds thrash Sunderland to start New Year in style

Liverpool concluded their festive fixtures with a thoroughly satisfying 3-0 win over Sunderland at Anfield. New signing Daniel Sturridge watched on from the stands as his future strike partners Raheem Sterling and Luis Suarez bagged the goals that fired the Reds to their third victory in four matches. It could have been more as well, but no Kopites will be complaining after Martin O'Neil's men were comprehensively defeated.

Having recovered from the virus that prevented him frequenting the dugout during the QPR match, Brendan Rodgers started Andre Wisdom in place of the injured Enrique, while Lucas replaced the benched Allen and Jordan Henderson was given another opportunity to impress against his former club.

The first chance of the match fell to Wisdom, who drove the ball over the bar from the edge of the box after Gerrard had set him up, before Sterling and Suarez combined to open the scoring 20 minutes in. The latter's excellent pass over the top of Sunderland's defence set the former through on goal, and he kept his composure to cleverly lob Mignolet.

Lobbed- Sterling breaks the deadlock

Although Sunderland almost produced an instant response, McClean striking inches wide of the far post from inside the box when he really should have scored, Suarez swiftly doubled the Reds' lead. Referee Phil Dowd thankfully played advantage after Cuellar floored himself in the process of fouling Suarez, allowing the Uruguayan to close in on goal and fire confidently past the goalkeeper.

The ever-improving Stewart Downing and Jordan Henderson then encouragingly combined to almost make it 3-0 on the half hour mark. Henderson superbly picked out Downing in a dangerous position but the former Villa winger just couldn't connect to turn it home. 

Reina was called into action to thwart Kilgallon from close range with a brilliant reflex save, but apart from that the Black Cats rarely threatened as the home side, who monopolised possession, were comfortably in the supremacy. 

The outcome of the contest was put beyond doubt seven minutes after the restart, as Steven Gerrard lived up to the Kop's much-loved chant about him, sending Suarez through on goal with a world-class 50-yard pass. The number seven did the rest, finishing past Mignolet to net his fifteenth League goal of the season. 

Just can't get enough- Suarez's sensational form continued last night

On 57 minutes, Joe Allen replaced Sterling and for the rest of the match he set about trying to score his first goal for Liverpool. His advanced role seemed to suit his game, as he performed noticeably better than he has previously when deployed in a holding role. 

A heroic block from Rose was required to deny the former Swansea player, before the Welshman struck Johnson's low cross into the side-netting. Both Johnson and Allen also saw goals disallowed for offside, as the hosts relentlessly searched for more goals to make their already convincing victory all the more pleasing.

Daniel Sturridge will be impressed with what he witnessed last night, but may also worry that he'll be unable to dislodge the fantastic Suarez from his seemingly permanent place in the starting line-up. The £12 million man may have to settle for a wide role he evidently prefers not to fulfill. 

Liverpool's clinical first half finishing distinguished this match from other games against lesser opposition at Anfield. They didn't create a host of chances, but the ones they did were clinically dispatched by Sterling and Suarez. This allowed exhibition style football to be played during an entertaining second half of top quality football. 

The Merseysiders mustn't get ahead of themselves, though, as Premier League fixtures versus Manchester United, Manchester City and Arsenal lie in wait. It's all well and good beating Fulham, QPR and Sunderland, but the real test of this squad's ability to compete at the highest level will come against those teams with the potential to win the title.

Facebook comments

Excellent, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. Sturridge is another part of the jigsaw that Brendan Rodgers is trying to put together. Baby steps!- Mark Halfpenny

Great performance. Should have been more with Johnson, Suarez and Allen two chances. If we thrash Mansfield Town, we will head to United in the best form possible! YNWA!- Dean Nemmer

YNWA