PLAYER RATINGS V L'POOL

Sunderland became the last team to lose at home this season in the Premier League, at the hands of reigning champions Liverpool. A narrow 1-0 defeat brought our unbeaten run at the Stadium of Light to an end, which stretched back to a 1-1 draw with Coventry City in the play-offs back in May of last year. It wasn’t the best performance admittedly but there’s no shame in losing to a team of that calibre.

ROBIN ROEFS: 7/10

Made two saves and there was nothing he could have done about the goal. Had a good command of his box, especially in the first half, but he takes a hit because he almost let them in towards the end.

NORDI MUKIELE: 8/10

Fared well against their attack and bombed forward a few times.

DAN BALLARD: 8/10

Dominant in the air and I didn’t see anything to overly criticise him with tonight.

OMAR ALDERETE: 6.5/10

Defensively fine I thought but had a bit more of a difficult night than Ballard or Mukiele. His passing was a bit off too.

REINILDO: 7.5/10

Reinildo looked good going forward once or twice and was usually effective when defending too. A couple of half-dodgy moments, and a pretty needless yellow card to get given, however nothing to be overly annoyed about.

NOAH SADIKI: 6.5/10

A quiet game from him, I think he’s tired and should definitely be rested against Oxford United on Sunday. He was generally good when he was involved but he struggled when the fight was physical.

ENZO LE FEE: 7/10

He had his difficulties going forward but handled himself better when under pressure.

TRAI HUME: 5.5/10

Had one of our best efforts of the game, just sending it over with around twenty minutes left but other than that he wasn’t at his best. Giving the ball away too often is my main gripe.

HABIB DIARRA: 7/10

He had less touches than Sadiki did but, in my opinion, he made more of an impact.

NILSON ANGULO: 7/10

First touch was a bit heavy, especially in the first half, but he looked bright, particularly after the break. A huge baptism of fire for his first Premier League start and he wasn’t bad at all.

BRIAN BROBBEY: 5/10

Their defence, more often than not, had him under control. He had little service but when he did have the ball I felt like he was too negative and chose to pass back rather than pass or drive it forward.

SUBS:

LUTSHAREL GEERTRUIDA: 7/10

Only had ten minutes to do anything and nothing that he did was wrong.

CHEMSDINE TALBI: 6/10

Looked a bit lost on the pitch, he had no time to get into it, however the basics were there.

ROMAINE MUNDLE: 6.5/10

Mundle had a few decent moments, one of which in particular he did well to dribble into the box. Could have done better once or twice.

WILSON ISIDOR: N/A

Came on very late with no time to have an effect.