It was relief for Arne Slot at the weekend as his side beat West Ham at the London Stadium, keeping a clean sheet in the process. However, West Ham haven’t been a particularly difficult team to overcome this season - the Hammers are only above the relegation zone on goal difference, having won just three of their 13 Premier League matches. 

Still, Liverpool will hope that result can be the catalyst for change, and provide some much-needed confidence. Alexander Isak bagged just his second goal in a Liverpool shirt since arriving in the summer, and will hope for the floodgates to open. 

Prior to last weekend, Liverpool had shipped 10 goals in three matches, highlighting a real vulnerability at the back. Sunderland have pulled off some impressive results this season already, including a 2-1 victory at Stamford Bridge, and a 2-2 draw against league-leaders Arsenal - they'll fancy their chances of scoring at Anfield. Eight of Liverpool's last 11 matches have gone over 2.5 goals, as have three of Sunderland's last five.

The Black Cats have been a difficult side to face, and they will be confident heading into this clash at Anfield. However, they will face a tough challenge trying to keep this Liverpool side at bay. Despite their poor results in recent weeks, Liverpool have still been able to fashion good chances, they just haven’t quite had the rub of the green with converting them. 

Against PSV, the Reds racked up 27 shots worth 2.5xG, leading to just the one goal. Matej Kovar put in a standout performance, accumulating a total of eight saves to frustrate the hosts. Opposition keepers at Anfield this season are averaging 3.73 saves per game, so Robin Roefs will have to keep hit wits about him. 

Roefs has excelled in the English top flight this season, and he has landed this selection in each of his last five away matches for Sunderland. 

Dan Ballard has been another standout performer at the back for the Black Cats, with impressive data when it comes to drawing fouls. The Northern Ireland international is averaging 1.42 fouls drawn per 90 this season, and has landed this selection in six of his seven starts when playing the full 90. 

For someone with such a powerful build, he does tend to hit the deck quite easily, which works to alleviate some pressure on his side and buy soft fouls. The centre back was fouled once against both Arsenal and Chelsea, games where the opponents were the dominant side in possession. 

He will likely be up against Hugo Ekitike in midweek. The Liverpool striker is averaging 1.63 fouls per 90 this season, rising to 1.74 fouls per 90 when playing at Anfield, which is one of the highest in the squad. It’s an excellent matchup for Ballard to improve his numbers. 

Milos Kerkez looks well-priced to draw a foul on Wednesday night, given that he has landed this selection in all seven of his starts at Anfield, averaging 1.37 fouls drawn per 90. The 22-year-old hasn’t quite been able to showcase his potential since arriving from Bournemouth over the summer, but he does still seem to have the backing of Arne Slot, and the Hungarian international has started three successive matches at the back. 

His primary matchup on the flank is likely to be Bertrand Traore - although his average of 0.92 fouls per 90 is nothing to write home about, he has committed a foul in five of his last seven games. Four of the last five left backs to have faced Sunderland have been fouled - Riccardo Calafiori hit this mark, while Marc Cucurella was fouled three times against Sunderland back in October. 

Arne Slot opted for some tactical tweaks at the weekend, but Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch remained in a familiar double pivot. The pair have played the full 90 alongside each other for three successive matches leading up to this clash, and are set to start again. 

Mac Allister is afforded more attacking license of the two, with the 26-year-old averaging 1.83 shots per 90 in all competitions this season, compared to 0.97 per 90 for Gravenberch. The Argentine international has seen an increase in shots when playing at Anfield, landing this selection in five out of nine games in total. 

In fact, Mac Allister has racked up six shots on target in his last three home matches alone, registering a total of 11 shots across those fixtures. Sunderland are likely to sit deep here, which should allow Mac Allister to pick up promising positions in and around the penalty area. 

Milos Kerkez is clearly more comfortable going forward than he is at defending, but he hasn’t quite been afforded that same attacking freedom this season. Under Andoni Iraola, Kerkez was given the license to bomb forward on the overlap, often getting to the by-line before crossing. This season, however, his overlapping runs have usually been ignored by Cody Gakpo. 

It has been a frustrating campaign for the 22-year-old so far, who has had a lot more defensive responsibility than he would have liked. He hasn’t been particularly convincing in his challenges, often diving in recklessly and mis-timing his slide tackles, which doesn’t bode well for him against Bertrand Traore. 

Riccardo Calafiori had a busy afternoon against Sunderland last month, as he racked up five fouls at left back, and was lucky to evade a booking. Traore is averaging 1.65 fouls drawn per 90 this season.

The Burkina Faso international has been a real livewire on the flank, and a difficult customer for opposing defenders to contain. Although he didn’t manage to register a shot against Arsenal, it is worth noting that Traore is averaging 2.39 shots per 90 this season, which is amongst the highest in the Sunderland squad. 

Additionally, Arsenal afforded Sunderland just six shots in that game - the Gunners have been head and shoulders above the rest of the league defensively, and Liverpool should be a much easier matchup for him.

The 30-year-old scored the equalising goal for Sunderland against Bournemouth last time out, as his side eventually completed a spectacular comeback. That was also Traore’s first goal for the Black Cats since joining in the summer, so he should be full of confidence here. He has landed this bet in all four away appearances this term, including against Chelsea and Man United.