A look at how the national media reacted to Liverpool's 1-1 draw with Sunderland in the Premier League at Anfield
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 03: Liverpool manager Arne Slot looks on during the Premier League match between Liverpool and Sunderland at Anfield on December 03, 2025 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images)
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 03: Liverpool manager Arne Slot looks on during the Premier League match between Liverpool and Sunderland at Anfield on December 03, 2025 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images)
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Liverpool's first draw of the Premier League season was served up on Wednesday night as they were held 1-1 by a high-flying Sunderland side who remain above them in the table. After Chemsdine Talbi had fired past Alisson Becker via a Virgil van Dijk deflection, it was Florian Wirtz's effort, given officially as an own goal from Nordi Mukiele, who dragged the champions back level.
The ECHO, as ever, was on hand to provide its usual mix of big-game verdict, player ratings and post-match analysis. The reaction of Arne Slot can also be found here too.
Our colleagues from the national media were also present to give their own considered takes. And here's what they made of a result that now leaves Slot's side with just four wins from their last 14 games.
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Lewis Steele, of the Daily Mail, writes: "Narratives are skewed by results so a 93rd-minute goaline clearance from Federico Chiesa has probably saved Arne Slot another hammering from the fanbase and trial by media in the next few days.
"But let us get this straight: that was another stinking performance by the Premier League champions.
"Whether Wilson Isidor converted that clear-cut last-gasp chance, when he charged through on goal and seemingly had the freedom of Anfield, or even if Liverpool had sent the Kop into bedlam with a stoppage-time winner at the other end, that sentiment would remain.
"This is a team sleepwalking to a write-off of a season, in the league at least. They are out of the title race – 11 points is too much for even serial chokers Arsenal to cede – but will take solace from the fact they are only two points adrift of fourth-placed Chelsea.
"On the evidence of the last month, though, they are not good enough for that. Yes, there is faith Liverpool will turn it round and it will all click together soon. But we can only analyse what we see now and that is a side on the slide, a head coach bereft of ideas.
"It feels like a long season ahead as this crisis, halted slightly by victory at West Ham on Sunday, shows no sign of slowing down."
On The Times' pages, Paul Joyce pens: "As Florian Wirtz collected the ball and cut inside Reinildo in the penalty area, Anfield, collectively, took the deepest of breaths.
"When he ghosted past Dan Ballard, the Liverpool supporters moved to the edge of their seats and when his shot struck the heel of Nordi Mukiele and spiralled into the back of the net, they were off them in both jubilation and relief.
"The wait for Wirtz to open his account at his new club, however, goes on after his effort went down as an own goal. But timing is everything and with this moment of quality the £116million signing spared Arne Slot from being engulfed by more anger and recrimination.
"This outcome was not what Slot had wanted but, until Wirtz’s intervention, Sunderland had been poised to post another glorious result in their campaign with Chemsdine Talbi’s 67th-minute goal after a Virgil van Dijk mistake a suitable reward for the bravery of their display."
Chris Bascombe, writing in The Telegraph, writes: "Not for the first time, Anfield could hail the most impressive recruitment team in the Premier League. Take a bow Sunderland.
"Had they been in attendance, John W Henry and his moneyball disciples might have led the standing ovation for their well-earned point. Sunderland paid £155m for 14 new players in the last transfer window, creating a vastly improved team who have come from the Championship to the fringes of a Champions League place.
"Liverpool, in contrast, paid £450m to go from champions to the most expensive work in progress since the Gaudi cathedral. They certainly have no resemblance to the side who were building the foundation of their title success this time last year.
"For Arne Slot, the road to wherever this is all leading is not yet taken, the most harrowing chapter of his management career still to reach a definitive conclusion."
Richard Jolly, on The Independent's pages, reflects: "Having shown too little ambition at the start and too much at the end, Liverpool were carved open by one ball forward from goalkeeper Robin Roefs.
"Chasing a game, they at least claimed a point from a losing position for the first time this season. Yet while they ended up with a first draw of the campaign, an unwillingness to settle for it almost cost them.
"Because really it was Sunderland who were denied victory. 'We had this opportunity to score the second goal,' rued Regis Le Bris, so close to becoming the first Sunderland manager to win at Anfield since Alan Durban in 1983.
"And when Chemsdine Talbi, scorer of a decider against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, put them ahead, the Moroccan seemed on course for a notable double, while Sunderland were set for fourth place. As it was, they can still look down on Liverpool in the table and rue aspects of a night in which they hit the woodwork in both halves and when both scorers were Sunderland players.
"Because while Liverpool’s equaliser was celebrated by Florian Wirtz and appeared, at the 18th time of asking, to have belatedly opened his account for his new club, it was instead debited to Nordi Mukiele, his deflection diverting an off-target shot past Roefs. 'In recent games we have found it really hard to get an equaliser but we have had a bit of luck,' added Slot. A match of two deflected goals nevertheless shone a light on two spending sprees.
"Liverpool were the biggest spenders in the summer. Sunderland may have been the smartest. Talbi was a low-profile recruit and, at £16.5m, a low-cost one, certainly in comparison to his Liverpool counterparts. But he is proof arrivals can settle swiftly and while Liverpool are beginning to see hints of why they spent so much on their £100m men, Alexander Isak and Wirtz, Sunderland’s massive overhaul has produced a hugely impressive side."
And the ECHO's verdict reads: "Perhaps the most shocking thing about Liverpool's latest setback - and that is what a 1-1 draw at home to Sunderland must be viewed as - was that it was no real shock at all. In fact nothing, in this most misshapen of seasons, truly surprises anymore.
"So failure to beat an upwardly mobile Sunderland side, one who have shown no respect to reputations upon their return to the big time, should raise very few eyebrows. And that, at its core, is the most worrying aspect of all for Arne Slot, who saw his team fail to build on the semblance of normality that was provided by Sunday's 2-0 victory at West Ham United."Just four wins in the last 14 fixtures across all competitions is cause for grave concern. The longer it continues, the more forlorn hopes of Champions League qualification become and while it is not exactly out of sight right now, a continuation of this sort of sequence will have the European Cup and its accompanying riches drifting towards the horizon before long."Slot sent on Chiesa to join Hugo Ekitike for the closing stages but a point was to be the sum of their efforts. In a season of recalibrated ambitions, it is hardly fatal to Champions League hopes. But draws are simply defeats with better PR for a club like Liverpool."