English Premier
2026-02-11 - Sunderland vs Liverpool
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Wednesday 11th February 2025 - Kick Off 8:15pm
This game is live on TV
Sunderland
The scoreline did not really reflect the fixture and Regis Le Bris made it clear that he was quite happy with the way Sunderland battled at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday, despite the final 3-0 score. In the weeks and months ahead, it will be a challenge to see if the manager can just help his team pick up a few more positive away results, but Sunderland have had little issue doing that at the Stadium of Light.
The Black Cats are 9th in the Premier League table and they are just 3 points behind the top six places and European Football, while fans will be enjoying the 3 point advantage over rivals Newcastle United. It is the home form that has been key for Sunderland who have a 7-5-0 record at the Stadium of Light, which means they are the only top flight club yet to be beaten in front of the home supporters.
Sunderland have lost their last couple of away Premier League games at West Ham United and Arsenal and have conceded three times in both defeats, but sandwiched in between is a 3-0 home win over Burnley. That result means Sunderland have 4 of the last 6 Premier League games at the Stadium of Light, while the current top three have all failed to win here this season.
Granit Xhaka is still helping the squad, but remains sidelined with an injury.
Liverpool
He may have led the club to a Premier League title, but Arne Slot continues to be questioned as manager of Liverpool in a season where they have failed to make much of a defence of that Championship. The manager admitted this has been his toughest year in charge of any club 'by a mile', while Slot has also made it clear that he knows that Liverpool need to find a way to return to the Champions League next season.
Another fixture in which late goals have hurt Liverpool have left the team in 6th place in the Division, while being 4 points behind Chelsea in 5th and 5 points behind Manchester United in 4th. Both of those teams play against relegation threatened clubs on Tuesday so there will be pressure on Liverpool to earn a positive result and improve the 4-3-5 away record in the top flight.
Liverpool finished in the top eight of the Champions League Group Stage to earn direct entry into the Last 16 again and they won a couple of fixtures in that competition last month. They also won a FA Cup tie, but the defeat to Manchester City on Sunday means Liverpool have won 1 of the last 7 Premier League games played. The Reds had been unbeaten in 5 away Premier League games, but conceded an injury time winner in the 3-2 loss at Bournemouth most recently.
Dominik Szoboszlai is suspended, but Joe Gomez could be ready to travel on Wednesday and may come in as right back. Jeremie Frimpong is hoping to be back in a couple of weeks, while Alexander Isak is likely back just prior to the March international break.
Head to Head
These teams played out a 1-1 draw at Anfield in December.
Sunderland have not won any of the last 5 at home against Liverpool, but are hosting this opponent for the first time since January 2017 in a fixture that ended 2-2.
Prediction
The absolute first instinct when seeing the odds for this game is that Liverpool are incredibly short as odds on to win the fixture.
Not only have Sunderland yet to taste defeat at the Stadium of Light, but you would hardly point to a strong run of form from Liverpool to account for odds on quotes.
Two late goals were conceded on Sunday, which means Liverpool have won 1 of the last 7 Premier League games played, and Arne Slot has struggled to find the balance in the squad. They do create chances and will be dangerous, but Liverpool's defence is making too many mistakes and Dominik Szoboszlai's absence should not be downplayed.
The Hungarian Captain has been a huge influence for Liverpool and it really makes it almost impossible to back them to win here.
The likes of Aston Villa, Arsenal and Manchester City have all failed to beat Sunderland at the Stadium of Light- you cannot ignore the fact that the current top two teams in the Division had the best of the chances in the fixtures played at the Stadium of Light, but it shows a real character in this Sunderland team that they have done enough to prevent defeat.
We have to expect more of the same with Regis Le Bris' team much stronger and comfortable at home than they have been on their travels. Sunderland will likely set up to frustrate Liverpool, although at the same time it is hard to imagine they can do enough to beat the defending Champions considering the way The Black Cats have approached the tougher home games played.
Chances were limited against Aston Villa, Arsenal and Manchester City, and this looks a fixture in which a big priced draw could be the best approach to take.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Sunderland 1-1 Liverpool
