Liverpool-Sunderland: Liverpool Player Ratings

From Anfield:

Final Score

Liverpool 3 Sunderland 0

Liverpool kept alive its hopes of Champions League football by winning decisively against Sunderland. Lucas was dropped from the starting lineup in favor of Gerrard alongside Mascherano. 

Johnson scored and assisted on Torres' second goal.

Liverpool remains four points shy of fourth place Tottenham, having played one more game.

Their next fixture is against Birmingham away, which could prove to be difficult, given that Liverpool has only scored a combined 13 goals in 16 away matches.

Players

Reina 8.5/10: Didn't need to do much, but was superb when Sunderland threatened. Took care of the box area very well.

Carragher 7.5/10: Had problems passing forward. Tended to run backwards back to goal. Made good tackles to break the defense.

Agger 9/10: Stellar performance from the Dane. Provided good center support for Carra and made several good runs into Sunderland territory.

Johnson 9.5/10: Scored the second goal of the match. Provided numerous opportunities for Torres and company up front. Solid defense.

Insua 6.5/10: Passed to the sides. Could never hold possession. Passes always broken, deflected, or picked off.

Babel 7.5/10: Showing signs of versatility and creativity despite playing on the left. Burst through on many occasions, and provided the cross that eventually led to Torres' second.

Gerrard 7.5/10: Not the best showing for Gerrard in a red shirt, but better than the last match against Manchester United.

Mascherano 7/10: Many broken passes. Provided good defense with solid tackling and coverage.

Maxi 8.5/10: One of the most impressive performances by the Argentine since arriving on free transfer. Fed the attack on almost every occasion on the right.

Kuyt 6.5/10: Unable to control the short passes near the box and lost possession. Too slow around the box, but provided extra option.

Torres 9.5/10: Unstoppable with two stupendous goals. Great anticipation on runs and lead passes.

Subs

El Zhar 5/10: Ran like a mad horse on the right without doing anything. Had one decent cross that didn't even touch a red shirt.

Aquilani 6.5/10: Came in when the game was locked up. Didn't do anything impressive, but kept possession.

Ngog 5.5/10: Lost the ball immediately after touching it. Pushed over too easily by defenders. No real threat whatsoever in the box.

Manager

Benitez 7.5/10: Actually didn't play Lucas either as starter or substitute and allowed Kuyt to play up front more rather than on the wings. Let Babel play the full 90 minutes and thus allowed a more creative Liverpool to show up.