Sunderland's unbeaten home record finally fell as Liverpool claimed a battling 1-0 victory at the Stadium of Light. Arne Slot's side were aiming to bounce back from a defeat against Manchester City that left them out of the Champions League places, and they closed the gap to the top four to three points on an evening where City and Aston Villa also recorded wins.

Captain Virgil van Dijk put the visitors ahead from a corner on the hour mark, flicking Mohamed Salah's delivery onto Habib Diarra, who deflected the ball into the back of the net for the winning goal. But the night was not a total success for Liverpool, who saw Wataru Endo stretchered off in the second half with what looks like a serious injury. Here, Express Sport rate the Liverpool team...

Goalkeeper

Alisson - 6

A solid game for the goalkeeper who had little to do throughout.

Defence

Wataru Endo - 6

On his first start of the season, in a makeshift right-back role, Endo gave away a foul throw with his very first action. His limitations in the final third clearly frustrated Slot, with simple crosses across goal going to the goalkeeper, but Endo is simply not a full-back and his defensive prowess offset his inability to impact the game going forward. Went down in pain after an hour and had to be replaced by Joe Gomez in a concerning injury.

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Ibrahima Konate - 7

Made an exceptional block to deny Brian Brobbey early on and will be pleased to have dealt with the Dutch forward's threat.

Virgil van Dijk - 8

Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Liverpool's captain forced Diarra to deflect the ball into his own net from a corner. A clean sheet to boot caps off a delightful evening for Van Dijk.

Andy Robertson - 6

Brought in for his familiarity in hostile atmospheres and Liverpool look a much stronger unit at the back with the Scot in it.

Midfield

Ryan Gravenberch - 6

Made a few wayward passes but grew into the match after Sunderland were able to cut through the midfield with ease in the first half.

Alexis Mac Allister - 5

Needs to do much more in the middle of the pitch. Curtis Jones simply has to start over the Argentine.

Florian Wirtz - 8

Liverpool's liveliest attacker and hit the post after half an hour following some good work by Cody Gakpo. Involved in everything positive for the visitors and he is really getting into his groove in the Premier League now.

Attack

Mohamed Salah - 5

Very, very quiet bar a few missed chances that should have found the back of the net. Yet again. You start to wonder if Liverpool would be better off without him right now.

Hugo Ekitike - 6

Visibly frustrated with his team-mates after several smart runs forward were not found. Struggled to get into the game.

Cody Gakpo - 7

Looked threatening when he went at Nordi Mukiele, but once again he far too often remained on the fringes of the match. Far too inaccurate with his shooting also.

Substitutes

Joe Gomez (68') - 7

A very impressive outing from the bench and he will need to be called upon in the following weeks you would expect, with Endo, Jeremie Frimpong and Conor Bradley absent.

Curtis Jones (75') - 7

Fired over the bar late on as his wait for a goal continues. A very lively cameo.

Federico Chiesa (88') - N/A

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