Liverpool are on course to leapfrog Manchester City and slip into second spot in the Premier League.
The Reds are leading Sunderland by a goal to nil at half time in this PL tie at Anfield.
While by no means a vintage performance, the Reds are worthy of their slender advantage.
In the early stages the only half decent effort came from Luis Suarez who shot over the bar from a free kick.
Pool took the lead with their only shot on target in the 39th minute.
The Black Cats' Santiago Vergini took down Suarez with the Uruguayan boring down on goal and was shown a yellow card for his foul. With Wes Brown not far away, it was the correct decision by the ref not to show red.
But captain Steven Gerrard made Sunderland pay by curling the resultant free kick into the back of the net past the flailing hands of keeper Victor Mannone.
In truth, it wasn't the best free in the world and Mannone should have done better.
