The Reds started their season off with a 1-1 draw which when they look back on it will sadden them. After a good start from the Reds they only went in one up at half time and they paid the price in the second half as Sunderland deservedly drew level.
On a bright day at Anfield the excitement of a new season was there from everyone. Charlie Adam, Stewart Downing, Jordan Henderson and Jose Enrique were all given a debut by Kenny Dalglish whilst Luis Suarez started up top with Andy Carroll despite only returning to training earlier in the week.
Jamie Carragher captained the side and won the toss to defend the Kop in the first half.
The Reds started the game really well and were in for every loose ball. They were playing some nice neat passing football which worked well and the shape of the side looked good.
The game was merely five minutes old when the first real incident came and it was a big one. Luis Suarez blocked a Richardson clearance and as a result was through on goal but at the halfway line. He charged through and was in the process of rounding Mignolet when Richardson took him down. A stone wall penalty and with Richardson the last man surely a red card.
The penalty was awarded and referee Phil Dowd had run to the side before calling Richardson over. He'd clearly been thinking about the card to give and it was yellow. Lucas protested and was warned to shut up by the ref. I've seen it again since and I think for me it was still a red card but I can see why it wasn't given as Suarez wasn't fully round the keeper. It just proves it's still just as much a grey area as it's always been.
Charlie Adam grabbed the ball for the penalty but Luis Suarez took it off him and after everything calmed down Suarez took the kick but it was an awful one which nearly hit the lower anny road end - which shows how high he spooned it. That made the red card even more galling but you backed Suarez straight away to score anyway in the game and that's exactly what he did.
Just eleven minutes in to the game and a ball forward to Suarez saw Wes Brown bundle him over for a free kick. Charlie Adam was in charge and with everyone watching Andy Carroll he instead whipped it in fast to the near post and Suarez headed the ball home. Now you could forget the spot kick.
The Reds now had the lead and were playing some decent stuff which all pointed to the right things.
Midway through the half Charlie Adam tested Mignolet from distance but in fairness to the keeper it was straight down his throat in reality.
A few minutes later and Lee Cattermole was the second player to go in the book for a poor challenge on Suarez - the Uruguayan's trickery always proves a free kick winner as players can't keep up with him.
Just after the half hour and the Reds were so close to a second goal as Stewart Downing came down the right side and cut inside three players before flashing a shot beyond Mignolet only for the ball to fly up off the bar and out. It was a great run and Downing had a decent start for me - often switching sides with Henderson. When it works it's good but there were a few times when this confused a little and we ended up with two men on the same side.
The more the game went on we gradually became a bit less refined in our play. The midfield started to break down a little and Sunderland started to even the game up a bit. Carragher went in to the book when he clattered Gyan and he could have no complaints really.
Half time came and you were left thinking that the game could easily be three nil up and the game would be over pretty much - especially had they been down to ten men.
The second half was started and quite quickly the Reds had a shout for a penalty for hand ball as Enrique and Suarez linked up.
Sunderland came right in to the game in the second half and our midfield was struggling to cope a little. We just seemed to split apart a little too much which gave Sunderland more to go at.
With Sunderland coming in to the game more they started to move forward better and create chances. Gyan and Sessegnon were moving all over the place which was causing us problems as well.
A few minutes short of the hour mark and Sunderland got the goal they deserved and it was a cracking finish in fairness. Seb Larsson hammered home a volley at the far post and there were a few Sunderland fans near me who went wild.
There was plenty time left though for the Reds to get back in to the game and take all three points but we needed to get our passing going again.
The Reds made a change bringing Kuyt on for Henderson on the hour mark as they looked to alter the play a bit.
Andy Carroll had a couple of chances soon after but couldn't work the keeper enough.
Sunderland continued to play well in the game though and never allowed the Reds to get back in to any form of flow at all. As the clock ticked on we started making a few mistakes and wrongly started using the longer ball forward to Andy Carroll. If you are going to use the lad then he needs crosses - surely why we have players like Downing. As a result our play was just breaking down far too easily and allowing the away side more time to move forward. Wes Brown was more than happy containing everything at the back for them which nullified us.
The Reds kept switching players around all over the place - Downing was up front at one point with Suarez out on the wing.
With fifteen minutes to go Suarez was subbed and Meireles came on which was a bizarre one - he never looked comfy last year on the right of midfield never mind the left and he had very little impact at all.
As the clock neared the end Sunderland nearly took all three points as they broke well but thankfully fluffed it all up near the end and after four minutes of added time we were left to accept a point.
There's a long season ahead and this game needs to be looked at in that context as well. You always want to start well but so does the opposition and with some new players starting for us it will take a few games for us to really bed in. There were a few problems at left back but only because Enrique arrived so late to us that him and Agger seemed to struggle communicating.
All in all a very good start to the match but we stopped playing for long periods and a draw was probably fair in the end although we can only blame ourselves having missed a penalty for a start - something you should never do in my mind.
MotM : Stewart Downing - good debut by the winger and he showed some great flashes of what could come this season and was very unlucky with his shot that hit the bar in the first half.
