Virgil van Dijk proved the difference just after the hour mark, powering home a header from Mohamed Salah's corner. Sunderland midfielder Habib Diarra, stationed on the goal line, could only help the ball over the line as Liverpool's pressure finally told.

Arne Slot's side controlled the contest for long spells, enjoying 68% possession in the first half and repeatedly testing Sunderland goalkeeper Robin Roefs, with Florian Wirtz at the heart of Liverpool's attacking threat.

Sunderland showed more intent after the restart, with captain Trai Hume firing over, but Liverpool remained composed and deservedly took the lead through their captain's fourth goal of the season.

The result marks only Liverpool's second league victory of 2026 and moves them to within two points of fifth-placed Chelsea. Sunderland remain 11th in the table.

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot praised his side's resilience, control and character after the narrow win.

"Very important. I think we dug deep, after only two days of rest. Then going to a difficult away game. We showed again how well we can play on the ball. We created so many opportunities today. The character we have shown throughout the whole game was very good and that is why we leave this place with a 1-0 win."

"In almost all the things we did, we did well. We had to defend a lot of long balls, a lot of set pieces, we did that very well. We won a lot of second balls and on the ball we were very good. Something I might not be positive about is when you generate that many chances, you should score more than one. We defended well in all phases of the game."

Liverpool's night was slightly marred by an injury to Wataru Endo, who was carried off on a stretcher and replaced by Joe Gomez.

"We have to wait and see, but we expect not to have him for quite a long time," Slot said.

Arne Slot hails Liverpool character after Van Dijk seals narrow win over Sunderland