Liverpool vs Sunderland (1-1)

Liverpool go into this season full of hope as they have a manager who took them from near the relegation zone back up to the top end of it last season, as well as the strong new signings they have made. Sunderland however have a completely new look about them after signing Larsson, Vaughan, Brown, O'Shea and Wickham and we were unsure how they were going to look.

First half looked very much one sided with Liverpool dominating possession and looking very much in control of play. Richardson was very lucky not to have been sent off after taking down Suarez in the box and Suarez who went on to take the resulting penalty skied it over the crossbar. However not letting this put him off his game 5 minutes later nodded in a header after a superb Charlie Adam free-kick. Later in the half Stewart Downing had a terrific run from just past the half way line cutting into the centre of the pitch between two defenders and then smashed a shot from distance which slammed against the crossbar. Had it gone in would have been not only the perfect debut for the guy but also a potential goal of the season due to the fact it came from nothing. At half time Liverpool went in a goal infront and may have been dissapointed it wasn't more.

Second half and Steve Bruce had clearly had a word with his players as they were suddenly creating more chances and having more time on the ball. This was making the game more open and started being a bit end-to-end. This style of play seemed to benefit Sunderland as 10 minutes into the second half they conjured up a bit of magic. Gyan held the ball up around the corner flag then neatly laid the ball off for Elmohamady who picked out Larsson at the back post unmarked who smashed a volley past Reina into the back of the net levelling the game. Liverpool tried to fight back but struggled to make many big chances for themselves. The game ended level.

Liverpool will consider themselves unlucky not to have taken 3 points from this match but they failed to convert their chances in the first half. Sunderland however will be thrilled to have got even the one point away at Anfield. Their new signings also showed promise with Wes Brown looking strong at centre-back and Larsson causing mischief up-field.