Sunderland vs Liverpool live: Reds name Szoboszlai replacement ahead of tough Premier League away test | OneFootball

Close

Slot admits Champions League is minimum acceptable for Liverpool

Sunderland host Liverpool in the Premier League with the visitors travelling north hoping to close the gap on Manchester United and Chelsea in the final Champions League qualification spots.

Arne Slot’s side are still reeling from the dramatic loss to Manchester City last weekend, with the Reds currently sitting five points behind fifth-placed Chelsea but perhaps boosted by both of their top-five rivals dropping points last night.

However, it doesn’t get any easier for the champions as they travel to the Stadium of Light to face a Sunderland side who are unbeaten at home so far this season.

The Black Cats began the weekend in ninth after the 3-0 loss to Arsenal, but with positive results at home against the Gunners and Man City already this term, it’ll take a big performance for Liverpool to deal them their first home loss of the season.

Arne Slot admits Liverpool must be ‘close to perfection’ to avoid unacceptable season

Liverpool boss Arne Slot has said his side will have to be “close to perfection” from here in order to avoid slipping to an unacceptable season.

Liverpool led Manchester City with six minutes to go at Anfield on Sunday, in what looked set to be a huge boost for their top-four prospects, but conceded two late goals and saw Dominik Szoboszlai sent off as they slipped to a damaging 2-1 defeat.

Arne Slot admits Liverpool must be ‘close to perfection’ to avoid unacceptable season

Liverpool suffered a damaging defeat to Man City at the weekend and Slot has the bar for the minimum achievement this season

Chris Wilson11 February 2026 19:35

Liverpool are falling apart thanks to a disastrous transfer decision

Two-thirds of the way into the season and Liverpool are closer to Brentford than Chelsea, nearer in terms of points to their neighbours Everton than their old enemies Manchester United. Still more damningly, they are further from league leaders Arsenal, 17 ahead of them, than West Ham, 16 behind them in the relegation zone.

It was an understatement to say their campaign was not supposed to go this way; not as defending champions, not with the £450m of spending that Arne Slot prefers to see referenced in terms of the £300m Liverpool have brought in during his reign.

Liverpool are falling apart thanks to a disastrous transfer decision

The Reds are short of options after spending their budget on quality over quantity, explains Richard Jolly, with a painful loss to Man City showing the value of depth after Rayan Cherki’s last impact

Chris Wilson11 February 2026 19:20