A daunting away day beckons for the suffering champions, as Liverpool visit the impressive Sunderland on Wednesday night.
A trip up to Wearside arrives barely 72 hours after Arne Slot’s side surrendered a lead late to Manchester City, which saw them lose ground in the race for Champions League football.
While Liverpool have emerged from their end-of-2025 monotony thanks to the improvement of Florian Wirtz and the continued brilliance of Hugo Ekitiké, the Reds remain a porous defensive unit that seldom have control over games. Sunday’s defeat leaves them four points adrift of fifth-place Chelsea heading into Gameweek 26, and Sunderland can equal Liverpool’s 39-point haul with a win at the Stadium of Light.
The Black Cats are the only team in the Premier League to maintain an unbeaten home record. Their sturdiness on Wearside means they sit ninth in the top flight and boast a chance of playing in Europe next season.
However, they’ve been up-and-down as of late and were comprehensively beaten at league-leaders Arsenal last time out. That was somewhat of a free hit for Régis Le Bris’s stout unit, though, and they’ll be relishing Wednesday’s occasion as they go in search of a first win over Liverpool since 2012.
Here’s Sports Illustrated’s guide to the Premier League clash.
What Time Does Sunderland vs. Liverpool Kick Off?
Location: Liverpool, England
Stadium: Anfield
Date: Wednesday, Feb. 11
Kick-off Time: 8:15 p.m. GMT / 3:15 p.m. ET / 12:15 p.m. PT
Referee: Chris Kavanagh
VAR: Darren England
Sunderland vs. Liverpool Head-to-Head Record (Last Five Games)
Sunderland: 0 wins
Liverpool: 2 wins
Draws: 3
Last meeting: Liverpool 1–1 Sunderland (Dec. 3, 2025)—Premier League
Current Form (All Competitions)
Sunderland (WWLWW) Liverpool (LWWLW)
Arsenal 3–0 Sunderland Liverpool 1–2 Man City
Sunderland 3–0 Burnley Liverpool 4–1 Newcastle
West Ham 3–1 Sunderland Liverpool 6–0 Qarabağ
Sunderland 2–1 Crystal Palace Bournemouth 3–2 Liverpool
Everton 1–1 (0–3p) Sunderland Marseille 0–3 Liverpool
How to Watch Sunderland vs. Liverpool on TV, Live Stream
Country TV Channel / Live Stream
United Kingdom TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports Ultimate, discovery+, discovery+ App
United States Telemundo Deportes En Vivo, UNIVERSO, UNIVERSO NOW, TeleXitos
Canada DAZN Canada, fuboTV Canada, Fubo Sports Network 6 Canada
Mexico TNT Sports, Max Mexico, TNT Go
MORE: Full list of Premier League broadcasters around the world
Sunderland Team News
Granit Xhaka
Granit Xhaka is dealing with an ankle injury. | Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images
An ankle injury is set to keep Granit Xhaka out of Wednesday’s game, and the Swiss midfielder is a huge loss in the middle of the park for the hosts.
However, Habib Diarra played a crucial role in Sunderland’s win over Burnley last Monday, while Noah Sadiki has impressed during his maiden Premier League campaign. The pair will likely start in Le Bris’s midfield pivot.
Bertrand Traoré is also absent due to the knee injury he sustained at the Africa Cup of Nations. The experienced winger could return at some point later this month, though.
Chemsdine Talbi scored in the reverse fixture and has produced a few moments of magic for the Black Cats since joining in the summer. The speedy winger will keep his place down the left and aim to take advantage of Liverpool’s dearth of available right backs.
Sunderland Predicted Lineup vs. Liverpool
Sunderland
Sunderland are out to preserve their unbeaten home record. | FotMob
Sunderland predicted lineup vs. Liverpool (4-2-3-1): Roefs; Mukiele, Ballard, Alderete, Reinildo; Sadiki, Diarra; Hume, Le Fee, Talbi; Brobbey.
Liverpool Team News
Dominik Szoboszlai
Dominik Szoboszlai was sent off at the weekend. | Robbie Jay Barratt/AMA/Getty Images
“If Joe [Gomez] is not ready to start, then we are missing four players who have played right back,” Slot said ahead of Wednesday’s game. Liverpool were already without Jeremie Frimpong and Conor Bradley through injury before Dominik Szoboszlai was sent off in the dying embers of Sunday’s frenetic defeat.
The Hungarian’s suspension means Slot will likely have to improvise on the right side of his defence, but there is a chance that Joe Gomez returns from his fitness setback at the Stadium of Light.
Gomez trained on Tuesday, but might only be available to feature off the bench. Curtis Jones is another option.
The visitors are also without long-term absentees Alexander Isak and Giovanni Leoni.
Liverpool
There will be changes at full-back for the visitors. | FotMo
Liverpool predicted lineup vs. Sunderland (4-2-3-1): Alisson; Jones, Konaté, Van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Salah, Wirtz, Gakpo; Ekitiké.
Sunderland vs. Liverpool Score Prediction
Liverpool’s inability to exert control with or without possession has compromised their title defence. On Sunday, they had the chance to close out what would be a significant victory, but they collapsed late yet again.
They seem ripe for picking at the Stadium of Light, despite the individual brilliance of those in attack. They have a mediocre away record and may struggle to deal with the physicality and robustness of Le Bris’s Sunderland, who are a different animal on home soil, but were excellent at Anfield in the reverse fixture.
It has the makings of another difficult night for Slot, and you wonder whether this could be the final straw for the Dutchman.
Prediction: Sunderland 2–1 Liverpool
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