Liverpool finally found a way through a dogged Sunderland side, but it came at a cost as Jurgen Klopp's men worried over a possibly serious injury to their chief playmaker Philippe Coutinho. The win momentarily took Liverpool to the top of the table, before Chelsea usurped them again with their come-from-behind victory over Spurs.
Divock Origi was the man who finally broke the Sunderland dam, curling in a nice effort into the bottom corner with little time to play, and while Liverpool made the game safe after Sadio Mane won a penalty and James Milner, inevitably, converted it, all the questions after that win surrounded around Coutinho.
The Brazil international had to be stretchered off the field in the first half after accidentally being caught by Sunderland midfielder Didier Ngog, who had made a perfectly legal challenge. After signalling to the bench and being stretchered off, there were worries that this could end up being a serious ankle injury.
Those worries only increased when Coutinho was seen leaving Anfield on crutches, but Klopp remained hopeful that the injury will prove not to be as serious as it initially seemed.
"We have to wait for the scan," Klopp said. "What we know in this moment is it is something with the ankle and that's it, so we all have to wait.
"He had pain, but pain gets better. In the first moment, it was obviously very painful but when I saw him at halftime, he said the pain was much better. We have to wait.
"If I have no idea what it is, how can I imagine how long it will be [out]? I am actually quite an optimistic guy – so I hope he can train tomorrow."
Also suffering an injury in the game was Coutinho's compatriot Roberto Firmino, who has a problem with his calf.
"He is much better than Phil, but has pain in the calf," Klopp said of Firmino.
Daniel Sturridge missed the Sunderland win with a tight calf, while Adam Lallana has also been absent through injury. "He had a tight calf," Klopp said of Sturridge's injury. "He hasn't trained for two days and I have no idea when he is back. It is not sure that he can train tomorrow (Sunday), so he was out because of this injury."
