Luis Suarez marked his return to the Premier League with a goal in each half to help Liverpool beat Sunderland and go second.
There were no changes from the midweek side that were defeated 1-0 at Old Trafford as Brendan Rodgers elected to continue with his 3 centre-back formation.
Luis Suarez was immediately involved in all of Liverpool's opening play, but it was Sunderland who had the lions share of the first half play.
Some sloppy giveaways from LFC, playing in their blue third kit, ensured Simon Mignolet was the busier of the keepers as Sunderland eventually went on to register the majority of the first half chances.
But it was Liverpool who scored an opener against the run of play.
Steven Gerrard whipped in a corner in the 27th minute. Kolo Toure jumped but missed, and the ball bounced in off what replays showed was the elbow of Daniel Sturridge.
In the stadium where Beach Balls are allowed to score - the goal was allowed to stand.
Within 10 minutes, and the reds added an unlikely second.
A sweeping ball from Steven Gerrard found Daniel Sturridge on the wing. He took the ball down brilliantly - made his way towards goal before setting up a simple tap in for Luis Suarez.
An unlikely 2-0 lead at half time was something to put the smile on Liverpool's faces, but the second half didn't start well.
The curse of the second half struck as Liverpool fell asleep and Ki-sung Yong shot at goal from just outside the area. Mignolet stopped the shot but simply pushed it straight to the onrushing Giaccherini who easily grabbed a goal back.
Sunderland enjoyed a decent spell of possession as the Wearside crowd woke up, although Liverpool held off the initial waves of attacks and launched some of their own. Moses going close twice. First with a shot that was tipped over the crossbar, before a cross/shot fooled everyone but went narrowly wide of the goal.
In the final minute Liverpool capitalised with a counter-attack and Sturridge and Suarez combined again - and Suarez grabbed his second of the game to ensure Liverpool won the game.
Liverpool move up to 2nd in the Premier League but still need to improve their second half performances which have been riddled with lapses in concentration and basic mistakes.
On the positive side though - Suarez is most definitely back.
MOTM: Daniel Sturridge
Sturridge was not shown to have hit the ball with his elbow mate. It was the upper part of his arm, which was held against his side, much nearer the shoulder than an elbow!