Sunderland produced a disciplined defensive display to claim a deserved point at Anfield against lacklustre Liverpool in a dour goalless encounter.

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard dropped to the bench following his heroic exploits midweek against Leicester, and the resulting drab first-half performance did little to suggest that Brendan Rodgers is close to filling the creative vacuum left by Luis Suarez’s departure and Daniel Sturridge’s continued absence.

The electric Raheem Sterling was the only shining light as Adam Lallana and Philippe Coutinho failed to influence the game.

As Liverpool struggled to muster an ounce of attacking inspiration, the Black Cats had excellent chances either side of half time to break the deadlock.

Wes Brown powered a header over the bar from Sebastian Larsson’s corner before Connor Wickham came close with a volley from another Larsson set-piece.

Gerrard’s introduction midway through the second half finally injected some purpose and tempo into the Liverpool team as the Reds’ talisman linked with Sterling to tee up Coutinho to fire weakly at Costel Pantilimon.

Liverpool will feel aggrieved not to have been awarded a penalty when Sterling went down in the box, while Jordi Gomez went close with a long-range shot after a Sunderland break.

Sunderland supremo Gus Poyet was left to rue his team’s missed chances. “I think there are times in life when you get opportunities. Today we lost a great opportunity to win at Anfield.

“In terms of defending and keeping a clean sheet we went back to the basics but we need to score more goals and be more clinical.”

The only positive for Liverpool was that they claimed their fourth clean sheet of the season and, with Kolo Toure and Lucas Leiva in the team, they look much less porous defensively.

“If you can’t win it’s important you don’t lose,” said Rodgers. “We’ve taken seven points from nine this week which is a good return for us.”

Renovation work begins on Monday to expand Liverpool’s Main Stand, but the team’s persistent poor performances suggest that the most pressing rebuilding work at Anfield is required on the pitch.