Liverpool 3 Sunderland 0

Watched by the freshly signed Daniel Sturridge Liverpool put Sunderland to the sword with Luis Suarez scoring twice ably assisted by his young lieutenant Raheem Sterling.

Brendan Rodgers returned to the dugout to oversee two changes from the side who summarily dismissed QPR with Wisdom coming in for the injured Enrique and Lucas in a straight swap for Joe Allen.

Steven Gerrard imperious throughout was at the heart of everything starting with a disguised pass to Wisdom. The youngster seeing the possibility to get on the score sheet blazed over. Downing followed-up unleashing a 20 yard curling free-kick which Mignolet saved comfortably.

Liverpool led by our industrious captain pressed high up the pitch leaving very little space for Sunderland to operate in. Gerrard headed powerfully forward to Suarez, he collected the ball on his chest swivelled in one movement played a hooked volleyed pass to send Sterling through. The young winger composed himself before lobbing calmly over Mignolet to send the crowd into raptures. Sunderland should’ve been back on terms almost immediately with Sessegnon and Fletcher combining brilliantly to put McClean through only for the Irishman to pull his shot wide. The miss would cost Sunderland dearly.

The second goal showed the difference in mentality between the sides. Gerrard won a ball which should’ve been no more than fifty-fifty laying the ball off to Suarez on the right, Carlos Cuellar looking like the favourite to clear ball and man, went in half-hearted with a body check fouling Suarez, who showed enough fortitude to stay on his feet and rode the challenge, powering into the area, before sliding his shot under Mignolet with Jordan Henderson baying for a tap in.

Downing almost made it three sliding in after Henderson's cross caused consternation in the area to poke the ball just wide.

Sunderland were still carrying a threat on the break and Kilgallon, ghosting in on the end of Adam Johnson’s cross almost sliding his shot past Reina who did well to block before shovelling out the rebound.

The triumvirate combined early in the second-half with Suarez flicking on Gerrard’s reverse ball to send Sterling through, but the youngster fluffed his lines showing his inexperience in getting caught between a shot and pass.

The Kop wouldn’t have long to wait. Gerrard as he had all evening produced a stunning 60 yard ball which reached Suarez at the end of his run as if guided by the Next-Generation Radar system which only left the master craftsman to decisively end the match as a contest. From that moment we were in cruise control.

There were enough chances to double the score. A Gerrard volley was headed towards goal by Johnson which Mignolet athletically touched over. Suarez with a hat-trick at his mercy, put through by a stunning Joe Allen reverse pass, shot against Mignolet. Liverpool also had two goals for Johnson and Allen, respectively chalked off for off-side.

Man of the Match: Luis Suarez - Scored two and one assist. The mercurial forward was once again the cutting edge that Liverpool crave, linking up with Gerrard and Sterling to create a formidable trio. Some of the link-up play was telepathic in its preciseness and was a delight to behold. If they can keep this going we can look forward to more ups than downs for the remainder of the season.

Joyous moment:  When I saw Raheem Sterling wheeling away after scoring his goal I was minded of Eric B & Rakim's lyric from the Musical Massacre "How could I keep my composure / When all sorts of thoughts fought for exposure?"

Comment: Steven Gerrard bestrode the midfield like a colossus. It’s easy to say that Sunderland were not at the races, but Liverpool never allowed into the game, cramping them for room all over the pitch. Glen Johnson was huge. Adam Johnson swapped sides to attack Wisdom because Johnson had him safely tucked away in his back pocket. Sterling showed composure which belied his years in taking his goal, but less we forget he has a long way to go. He fluffed his lines when a second goal beckoned, but his neat intricate play with Suarez shows his cleverness. Joe Allen's cameo showed a refreshing appetite to get forward and he was almost rewarded with a goal which arguably should have stood.

Manager’s comment: "The star was our team tonight. Luis Suarez got two goals and Raheem Sterling got one but that is their job and the team was brilliant.

"It was the fourth game in a short period of time and their work rate and intensity was incredible. I am very very happy, it is another win for us and we can look forward to the next game.

"Luis has been absolutely fantastic. He moves well, he is a real threat and he is a real pleasure to work with. He is that Lionel Messi type of player in that he gets kicked all over the place but he gets up and he produces."

Team: 23 Reina, 2 Johnson, 47 Wisdom, Agger, 37 Skrtel (Carragher - 73 min), 8 Gerrard, 19 Downing, 14 Henderson (Suso - 67 min), 21 Lucas, 7 Suarez, 31 Sterling (Allen - 57 min),

Subs: 1 Jones , 23 Carragher, 49 Robinson, 24 Allen, 33 Shelvey, 4 Sahin, 30 Suso

Ref: Phil Dowd

Attendance: 44,228