The Black Cats will host the Reds at the Stadium of Light when the 17th edition of the English Premier League gets underway this Saturday.
The Mackems are in for a tough start, as Rafael Benitez’s squad is as strong as it has ever been following the £19million purchase of Robbie Keane from Tottenham Hotspur.
Expected to line up alongside Fernando Torres, the Irish striker is at the forefront of his former international team-mate’s mind, as Keane the senior believes his compatriot can help the Merseyside club challenge for their first title since 1990.
“Robbie and Torres will be a real handful playing together,” he said in The Guardian.
“I think Liverpool will go close this season and I’m sure they’d like to think they’d go closer than the last few years. They’ll be looking to win the League title this year and Robbie and Torres are the sort of players that win you football matches and ultimately win you trophies as well.
“But there are good strikers at other clubs too, like [Wayne] Rooney and [Carlos] Tevez and [Nicolas] Anelka and [Didier] Drogba.”
Good Time
Liverpool’s form coming into the clash is less than ideal, however, as they only just managed to escape their midweek Champions League qualifier against Standard Liege with a 0-0 draw.
Furthermore, the five-time European champions are looking a bit lean given the absences of Javier Mascherano, Lucas Leiva and Ryan Babel - all at the Olympics - and injury concerns of Fabio Aurelio and Martin Skrtel.
And while Keane holds his old foes in very high regard, he senses an opportunity for his Sunderland side to pull off what would be a massive upset.
“Liverpool are where we want to be,” the ex-Manchester United captain said.
“I can’t speak highly enough of Liverpool, a great club, with a great manager and a great history. They’ll be looking at the game against us and thinking it’s a decent start for them.
“But with the quality we’ve got now, particularly going forward, we hope we can cause them a few problems. They’ll have a few players making their debuts too, so it might be a good time to catch them.”
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