Virgil van Dijk’s decisive header delivered a 1-0 win for Liverpool over Sunderland, keeping the push for a Premier League top-four place on course and moving
Liverpool within three points of the Champions League positions after the earlier defeat against Manchester City.
The result ended Sunderland’s strong form at the Stadium of Light, where Sunderland had gone 14 home games unbeaten in all competitions since May 2025, while Liverpool extended an impressive sequence away to promoted sides in the Premier League.
Sunderland started with intensity and could have taken an early lead when Brian Brobbey met a chance first time, only for Ibrahima Konate to block, before Florian Wirtz became the main threat, driving Sunderland forward and troubling Liverpool’s defensive structure.
Wirtz then went close with a low strike that clipped the far post through a packed penalty area, and either side of that effort Robin Roefs produced two strong saves to frustrate Wirtz again, preventing Liverpool from capitalising during that first-half pressure.
The breakthrough finally arrived on 61 minutes when Mohamed Salah swung in an inswinging corner and Van Dijk attacked the delivery, guiding a powerful header beyond Habib Diarra, whose attempt to keep the ball out on the line proved unsuccessful for Sunderland.
Hugo Ekitike almost changed the story with a downward header that bounced narrowly wide, and Salah then curled a stoppage-time effort past the far post, but those missed openings did not deny Liverpool, as Sunderland failed to respond with a late equaliser.
All three points pic.twitter.com/WtbXoHJubiLiverpool FC (@LFC) February 11, 2026
Liverpool’s display carried attacking threat throughout, with 23 attempts generating 1.95 expected goals, although only three efforts forced saves, while Sunderland produced 11 shots worth 0.66 expected goals, managing to test Alisson on just two occasions across the 90 minutes.
The victory also had personal significance for Van Dijk, whose goal was a 23rd in the Premier League for Liverpool, moving one ahead of Sami Hyypia’s 22 to become the highest-scoring Liverpool defender in the competition, and Van Dijk added a game-high 14 clearances in defence.
