The Premier League title holders have now gone three straight home matches without a win and required a Nordi Mukiele own goal to secure a point against the Black Cats.

Sunderland appeared set for their first Anfield victory since 1983 when Chemsdine Talbi's deflected shot put them ahead.

Even after Mukiele diverted Florian Wirtz's shot into his own net to equalize, Wilson Isidor missed a golden opportunity to claim all three points for the visitors when his attempt was cleared off the line by Federico Chiesa in stoppage time.

After winning their first five league matches of the season, Liverpool have managed just two wins in their last nine games.

"Opponents now believe they can get a positive result against us," Slot said. "Not just believe it, but it has been proven this season.

"Even in the matches we won, we have boosted the confidence of other teams that success is achievable because our victories weren’t straightforward."

Any optimism from Sunday's 2-0 triumph at West Ham was soon dismissed by Slot.

Mohamed Salah was benched for the second game running, while Wirtz and Alexander Isak once again failed to justify their combined price tag exceeding £100 million.

Salah came on at the start of the second half but struggled to break down Sunderland’s well-organized defense.

"I was aware before the match that Sunderland is a tough team to score against and difficult to create chances against," Slot added.

"It was a game where we neither conceded many chances nor created many, and we were very unlucky with the goal we conceded. It was a deflection that could have gone anywhere, but given our current form, it ended up in the net."