Credit where it is due - this was a rare night of joy on the road for Liverpool in what has been a disappointing campaign thus far.
They battled well against an organised Sunderland side and more than deserved the 1-0 win.
Sunderland raced out of the blocks but Liverpool did well to withstand some early pressure and were by far the better side for most of the first half.
They were comfortable in possession, with Florian Wirtz at the heart of everything, and perhaps the only criticism can be their failure to make that dominance count.
In the end, it took a set-piece for Arne Slot's side to break the deadlock - with Liverpool's 10th corner of the game resulting in Virgil van Dijk's goal. The Dutchman now has more goals (23) than any other Liverpool defender in the Premier League era.
Mohamed Salah's struggles in front of goal are becoming a concern, but he provided his 92nd Premier League assist for Liverpool, moving him level with Steven Gerrard for their most in the competition.
The fact Sunderland rarely threatened is also testament to Liverpool's defence, which saw two changes as Wataru Endo and Andy Robertson came in for Dominik Szoboszlai and Milos Kerkez.
Manchester City are the only other side to have kept a clean sheet at Sunderland this season (a 0-0 draw in January).
Liverpool have not performed like reigning champions often enough this term, but on this wet night in the north east they turned up and delivered a display befitting of that status.