MatchThe opposition lowdown: Sunderland
Get the lowdown on Sunderland ahead of their visit to Anfield to meet Liverpool in the Premier League on Wednesday night.
Season so far
Promoted from the Championship as play-off winners last term, the Black Cats have delivered a hugely impressive start on their Premier League return.
Regis Le Bris' side have won six of their opening 13 games and also drawn four times.
A total of 22 points has them sitting among the division's European qualification spots at this stage.
Last time out, on Saturday, they came from two goals down to beat AFC Bournemouth 3-2 at their Stadium of Light home.
Key players
Wilson Isidor has scored four times in the top flight for Sunderland so far this season.
Dan Ballard, Brian Brobbey and Enzo Le Fee have each chipped in with two goals.
Granit Xhaka leads their team for assists in the Premier League with four.
Team news
Noah Sadiki has been declared fit for the game, despite suffering a blow to the face against Bournemouth.
Dennis Cirkin and Leo Hjelde are stepping up their returns from injury with minutes for the U21s side, while Aji Alese and Habib Diarra are also among those to have been sidelined in recent weeks.
Previous meetings
The clubs are set to clash for the first time in any competition since January 2017, when they drew 2-2 on Wearside.
The last Anfield encounter was in November 2016. On that day, Liverpool prevailed 2-0 thanks to late goals from Divock Origi and James Milner (penalty).
What they said
Sunderland head coach Le Bris
"We worked hard to have the privilege to play this kind of game. It's a great honour to be in that position, especially through a positive dynamic. So, [a] challenging situation, tough game, but I think we want to live this kind of experience.
"I think it's another game in a really special place, that's fair. But I think our players – even if we have a young team – now have good experience and they want to be competitive. Otherwise, we will be a spectator – and we don't want to be a spectator. Liverpool will be strong, the place is impressive, but at the same time we want to be competitive."
Pre-match stats
Sunderland's away Premier League matches this season have seen the fewest goals scored of any side's games on the road (nine – three for, six against). It is the lowest in a team's first six away games of a season since West Ham United in 2022-23 (also three for, six against).
They have not won at Anfield in 18 league visits since Gary Rowell's only goal of the game in October 1983.
The Black Cats have won six Premier League games so far this season, the same number as they managed in the whole of their last campaign in the top flight in 2016-17.
Le Bris' side have not kept a clean sheet in their last five matches.
Three players have started every league game for the Black Cats thus far – Xhaka, Sadiki and Robin Roefs.