Did you know...? Sunderland v LFC
Here are some things you might not have known about Sunderland and their history with Liverpool...
Since going out to Everton in the FA Cup last March, Sunderland have played 10 league games. They have not registered a victory in that time, drawing seven and losing three.
They will be the last team in England to play a home league game this season following the postponement of the game with Reading due to a waterlogged pitch three weeks ago. The last Premier League game there saw them lose 1-0 to Manchester United on the dramatic final day of last season.
Boyhood Liverpool fan Steven Fletcher scored twice on his debut for Sunderland in the 2-2 draw at Swansea two weeks ago.
Martin O'Neill has won six of the 17 league games v LFC during his managerial career with Leicester, Aston Villa and Sunderland.
Liverpool have suffered only three defeats at Sunderland in the last 27 league meetings going back to 1959. They have won 16 and drawn eight. However, they have lost two in the last three.
In the last 55 league games home and away Sunderland have won only five times.
Liverpool have conceded only eight goals in their last 20 league visits to Sunderland, keeping 14 clean sheets in the process.
The last Liverpool player sent off in this fixture was Momo Sissoko, dismissed for two yellow card offences in November 2005.
The Reds' heaviest defeat at Sunderland saw them lose 7-0 in December 1912.
Jordan Henderson scored four league goals in 71 games for Sunderland and five in 79 in all competitions. Stewart Downing, meanwhile, played seven games on loan at Sunderland in 2003-04 in the second tier - scoring three times.
Luis Suarez missed a penalty in the Anfield meeting on the opening day of last season. He has scored in two of his three games against the Black Cats.
The Reds' next draw will be their 100th away from home in the Premier League.
Last season Sunderland finished in 13th place. They conceded only 17 league goals at home - three teams conceded fewer including Liverpool.
Should they win, Sunderland will record back-to-back home wins over Liverpool for the first time since 1958-59.
The last Sunderland player to score a hat-trick against Liverpool was Bobby Gurney in 1936-37. With 19 goals he is the leading scorer in the league against Liverpool with one club.
Referee Martin Atkinson has sent off four Liverpool players in the 31 games he has taken charge of. The Reds' last visit to the North East - at Newcastle in April - saw him dismiss Pepe Reina.
The last hat-trick from a Liverpool player against the Black Cats was by Roger Hunt at Anfield in February 1966.
Scorers this season (league in brackets):
Liverpool: Suarez 2 (1), Borini 1 (0), Downing 1 (0), Gerrard 1 (0), Johnson 1 (0), Skrtel 1 (1), own goals 1 (0).
Sunderland: Fletcher 2 (2), McClean 2 (0).