After an encouraging 1-0 win over the then-league leaders Leicester City, Liverpool will look to add pick up another victory, with a bit more added style, when they travel to Sunderland in the English Premier League on Wednesday.
Christian Benteke was the hero as Liverpool beat high-flying Leicester at Anfield on Boxing Day, and while most of the other clubs barely had any time to catch their breath before going into another round of fixtures, the Reds have been afforded a little more to digest their big win and build on it.
"What we saw with Leicester was how it's always about fighting for second balls and [how] they are really strong when they win these," Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said. "They are really quick in transition and in mind with really good solutions. I think second balls will be a big thing to think about for Sunderland, too.
"We had to learn to play like the way we did against Leicester. After Watford [a scathing 3-0 loss], it was clear what we had to do, it was really clear because we had these problems in the games against West Brom and Crystal Palace but not against Leicester because we reacted and that's really good. That's what I'm really satisfied with.
"Now we have to play Sunderland, we don't want to go there and show how football should be [played]. We go there and want to win, that's the only reason why we travel there."
Liverpool are currently tenth with 27 points from 17 matches, but can go level on points with sixth-placed Manchester United with victory against Sunderland. The Black Cats need three points more than anything at the moment, as Sam Allardyce's men lie second bottom, seven points adrift of safety.
Klopp is expecting Sunderland to put in an improved performance on Wednesday, considering the home side have lost their last four matches, with a few of them being heavy defeats.
"I think Sam Allardyce said after the last game against City, not only about three goals in ten minutes, but talked about what they have to do in their next game as they lost concentration in defence," Klopp added. "Everybody can imagine what will happen at Sunderland. I think they will go back to the roots and we know what is waiting for us. We will be prepared."
Allardyce, after initially looking like finding a way to plug Sunderland's leaky defence, will have to start from square one, with Manchester City putting them to the sword on Boxing Day. Liverpool are not quite as lethal or clinical up front yet, and Allardyce believes Klopp's side can be beaten, provided you maintain the right discipline.
"From our point of view Liverpool can be beaten if you get the game plan right and frustrate them," Allardyce said. "I saw Tony [Pulis, the West Brom manager] nearly beat them, so they have some weaknesses which you can expose.
"We need to get back to being resilient and we need to get back to being spoilers to get ourselves the result."
Where to Watch Live
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Sunderland vs Liverpool is scheduled for a 7.45 pm GMT (1.15 am IST, 2.45 pm ET) start. Viewers in India can watch the EPL match live on Star Sports 4 and Star Sports HD4, while the online live streaming options are on Hotstar and Starsports.com (slight five-minute delay).
NBC Sports Network will broadcast the EPL game live in the US, while Sunderland vs Liverpool can also be live streamed on NBC Sports Live Extra. Audience in Canada can watch the action live on TSN2 and TSN TV.
The English Premier League match will be shown live in the UK on Sky Sports 1, while the live stream options are on Watch Sky Sports and Sky Go.
PPTV Sports and LeTV will broadcast the match live in China and Hong Kong. Viewers in Singapore can watch the match live on 104 mio, with live coverage of the match in Thailand on CTH.
Australia viewers can watch the EPL game live on Fox Sports 4, while the online live streaming options are on Fox Sports On Demand and Foxtel Play.
