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Premier League, Anfield - Liverpool 0 Stoke 0.

Liverpool were held to a goalless draw by Stoke at Anfield in a bruising Premier League encounter.

The Reds have won just two league games at Anfield in 2012 and the reasons were there for all to see, with a distinct lack of cutting edge despite dominating possession, especially in the second half.

Stoke made things difficult with some heavy challenges and barely emerged from their half in the second period, but Liverpool were unable to find the form in front of goal they displayed against Norwich last weekend.

Liverpool made eight changes from the midweek Europa League defeat to Udinese, reverting to the side that won 5-2 at Carrow Road with the likes of Steven Gerrard and Luis Suarez coming back in.

Stoke also kept faith with the 11 men who won in the Premier League a week ago in their 2-0 home victory over Swansea.

The match was fraught from the off, with Stoke applying pressure to the Reds' passing game high up the pitch.

As early as the third minute a loose back pass from Nuri Sahin put former Liverpool midfielder Charlie Adam in, with Pepe Reina making a sharp save with his legs.

Moments later Suarez was livid after Stoke centre-half Robert Huth clearly stamped on him following an aerial challenge but escaped without punishment. He exacted revenge shortly afterwards, also avoiding a booking despite clumping into the German late.

Liverpool were again exposed on 20 minutes when a risky pass out from Reina allowed Michael Kightly to lift a chip over him, but the agile Spain keeper flew back to tip over.

Time and again Brendan Rodgers's men insisted on playing the ball out from the back, but they were continually cut short by late challenges from an over-zealous Stoke.

Huth somehow avoided a booking again after a rugby-style tackle on Suarez but eventually followed Kightly into the referee's notebook for upending the Uruguayan striker as he raced away on the counter.

Gerrard saw a 'Hollywood' strike tipped wide of the near post by Asmir Begovic while Daniel Agger almost poked home a Suso dink into the box. That was as good as it got for the Reds in the first half, while Suarez was accused of kicking out after Begovic got to the ball first moments before the whistle. He seemed to be going for the ball.

The pressure on the Stoke goal at the Kop end was relentless from the restart. A superb sliding challenge from Ryan Shawcross denied a Gerrard pull-back after he exchanged passes with Suarez to attack the byline.

Glen Johnson, operating at left-back, was picked out by a pinpoint Gerrard diagonal ball but shot over the bar with the goal at his mercy, then Begovic slid out to kick clear another low ball into the danger area from deep from the home skipper.

Suarez produced the most exciting moment of the match on the hour mark as he accelerated from halfway and panicked several Stoke defenders with his mazy dribbling before slicing wide of the near post from inside the box.

After teenager Raheem Sterling placed a side-footed finish against the outside of the post when it was begging to be cracked across goal, Suarez also fired against the outside of the post - but the home fans never seemed convinced that their men would produce the goal they craved.

And when Martin Skrtel could only flick a Gerrard free kick across goal with Shawcross grounded, the goalless draw was all but confirmed.

Shawcross, former Liverpool midfielder Adam, Jonathan Walters and Dean Whitehead would all also be shown yellow cards before the end in a solid - if not particularly admirable - rearguard effort from Tony Pulis's men.

Meanwhile Suarez did not cover himself in glory with a pathetic dive in the box after minimal contact from Marc Wilson.

Liverpool are 14th in the table, two places below Stoke.

MAN OF THE MATCH

Ryan Shawcross (Stoke City) – A giant throughout and despite the booking didn't resort to some of the more unsavoury tactics employed by Stoke.

Premier League, Carrow Road - Norwich 2 (Morison 61, Holt 87 ) Liverpool 5 (Suarez 2, 38, 57, Sahin 47, Gerrard 68).

Luis Suarez scored a classy hat-trick to help Liverpool complete their first Premier League win of the season with a 5-2 drubbing of a mediocre Norwich at Carrow Road.

Nuri Sahin - fresh from his double in the 2-1 League Cup win at West Bromwich Albion - and Steven Gerrard netted the other Liverpool goals in the second period with Steve Morison and substitute Grant Holt responding for the home side, who were probably lucky to get out of the afternoon losing by only three goals.

Suarez also scored a hat-trick in a 3-0 win for Liverpool at Norwich in April. Incidentally, it was also the last time they enjoyed a clean sheet.

Norwich have now won just one of their past 11 Premier League matches, and have only three points from their opening six games of the season.

Suso, Raheem Sterling and Andre Wisdom all started for Liverpool at Carrow Road, and all coped handsomely with the occasion.

There was just over a minute on the clock when Brendan Rodgers's side moved ahead as Suarez collected a loose ball to fire a low shot beyond the despairing dive of John Ruddy in the Norwich goal.

Jose Reina was forced to keep out an effort from Simeon Jackson with the aid of a post, but Norwich's meaningful surges forward would be few and far between as Liverpool revelled in possession.

The Uruguayan forward Suarez should have had a penalty when he was clearly bundled to the deck from behind by Leon Barnett on 23 minutes, but referee Mike Jones astonishingly decided otherwise.

It was a poor decision by Jones, but not as peculiar as that of home central defender Michael Turner seven minutes before the break.

Turner needlessly lost possession on the edge of his box. Suarez turned him inside out before sticking the ball into the corner of the net with the outside of his right foot.

Liverpool could and probably should have had more goals in the first half with Suarez playing provider with a deft ball that saw Steven Gerrard's header clawed out by Ruddy.

Suarez was also sent speeding clear by Daniel Agger moments before his second, but he planted the ball wide when he looked likelier to find the net.

Norwich almost found themselves within a goal of the visitors on 46 minutes when Robert Snodgrass saw the ball fly off him and over from Andrew Surman's shot, but there was never any real threat of a recovery.

Suarez played in Sahin for the third goal from close range on 47 minutes before he bent the ball past Ruddy from 22 yards for his third and Liverpool's fourth on 57 minutes.

Norwich had netted their first of the afternoon to trail 4-1 on 61 minutes when Jose Reina failed to halt a Russell Martin effort before Morison forced home the rebound.

Gerrard saw an effort deflect off the hapless Barnett and fly beyond the wrong-footed Ruddy on 68 minutes for a 5-1 lead after some nice play by Sterling.

Holt - who had replaced Jackson at half-time - completed the scoring for the day when he benefited from some slipshod defending by Martin Skrtel before bounding up the park to sweep the ball low into the corner of a net on 87 minutes, but a fair smattering of Norwich fans had already seen enough.

MAN OF THE MATCH

Luis Suarez (Liverpool) - Simply a joy to watch with his movement too much for Norwich's defence. Scored three, set up another and should have had a penalty. Probably wishes he could play at Carrow Road every week.

Premier League, Stadium of Light - Sunderland 1 (Fletcher, 29) Liverpool 1 (Suarez, 71).

Liverpool remain without a win after four games of the Premier League season despite dominating in a 1-1 draw at Sunderland's Stadium of Light.

Brendan Rodgers's side rescued a point from the evening courtesy of Luis Suarez's composed finish on 71 minutes, but will be scratching their heads wondering how they did not manage to depart with the win.

Sunderland somehow remain unbeaten in the Premier League this term courtesy of Steven Fletcher's third goal in two starts for the home side since his £14 million transfer from Wolverhampton Wanderers during the transfer window.

The last time Liverpool failed to win any of their first four league matches in a top flight season was in 1911-12.

Sunderland have not won in their last 11 Premier League matches, equalling Martin O’Neill’s longest run as manager in the division without a victory, which was set between November 2006 and January 2007 when he was at Aston Villa.

They will be more than content with this point after spending most of it hemmed in deep in their own half.

The home side were without Adam Johnson due to a thigh injury while Liverpool made two changes as Martin Kelly and Jonjo Shelvey replaced Jose Enrique and Nuri Sahin.

In a week blighted by the horrendous Hillsborough revelations, Liverpool responded to the emotion of the occasion by producing an excellent performance in the circumstances that must have pleased their travelling support with Raheem Sterling very much to the fore.

Sunderland moved ahead with their only real attack of meaning in the first period as Fletcher swooped ahead of Martin Skrtel on 29 minutes to slip the ball home from Craig Gardner's ball across the face of goal.

Sterling played provider for Liverpool to equalise with a delicate cross into the area. The ball broke kindly off home substitute Titus Bramble for Suarez, who had been booked in the first period for diving to try to win a penalty, to finish with Simon Mignolet well beaten.

Mignolet was a busy figure in the home goal throughout the night as he made saves from Shevley and Fabio Borini while Glen Johnson hit the bar and Steven Gerrard a post before Suarez eventually found his range to restore parity.

Liverpool will aim for their first win of the Premier League season when they host Manchester United at Anfield a week on Sunday.

MAN OF THE MATCH

Raheem Sterling (Liverpool) – A real find for Liverpool and was a constant menace as Liverpool spent large swathes of the match camped in the home half.

Liverpool paid for two critical defensive errors as a fine team performance was ruined and three points turned into one in a 2-2 home draw against Manchester City in the Premier League.

Having lost 3-0 to West Brom in their opening fixture, this was undoubtedly the performance Brendan Rodgers required from his Liverpool side and their superior passing and quality was rewarded as they twice took the lead through a Martin Skrtel header and a wonderful free kick from Luis Suarez.

However, a combination of a flapping Pepe Reina and a muddled Martin Kelly allowed Yaya Toure to equalise initially on 63 minutes, before Skrtel was guilty of a truly dreadful mistake as his awful back-pass allowed Carlos Tevez to round Reina and score with 10 minutes remaining.

Dominating a match against the reigning champions was clear progress for a side that prior to today had picked up just 18 points in 20 Premier League games in 2012, but it could and should have been an even more auspicious occasion for Rodgers in what was his first home league game as Liverpool manager.

Having carefully restored the old This Is Anfield sign and reintroduced red nets to the famous stadium, Rodgers has been at pains to put across the message that he is giving this grand old club a new lick of paint. That extended to the playing staff too with the average age of Liverpool's team dropping to 24 years and 364 days - the youngest starting XI for the club since 2003.

That was in large part due to the fact that Liverpool gave a Premier League debut to 17-year-old Raheem Sterling and the forward, playing down the left, made an eye-catching contribution in the early stages. After 18 minutes, Sterling cut onto his right and delivered a wickedly dipping cross to find Fabio Borini charging towards the near post. However, having beaten Aleksandar Kolarov to the ball, the Italian striker turned his shot wide.

By this point Liverpool had already suffered the loss of Lucas Leiva - who spent so much of last season sidelined with a knee injury - to a muscular problem that forced his withdrawal after only five minutes, but the setback appeared to do little to disrupt their approach as they adopted a commendably high tempo and went in hunt of a goal from the off, pressing City hard.

Suarez was sparky enough, though the Uruguayan was a touch wasteful in the final third again, and alongside the immaculate Joe Allen, who failed to misplace a single pass in the entire first half, captain Steven Gerrard was influential too, threatening twice with early chances that he dragged wide of the post.

City by contrast seemed unbalanced with both Carlos Tevez and Mario Balotelli in attack and David Silva relegated to the bench, though they almost took the lead after 20 minutes when Tevez darted onto a through-ball from Samir Nasri, rounded Jose Reina and saw his shot from a tight angle bounce along the goal line and strike the far post.

But with the reigning champions only a intermittent threat, Liverpool secured the goal their efforts merited after 34 minutes. A dangerous cross from Gerrard forced a corner, and nearly an own goal, from Kompany, before the Liverpool captain delivered the set-piece from the right himself. Skrtel thundered into the box and leapt in front of Kolarov and Pablo Zabaleta to hammer his header past Joe Hart for a half-time lead.

With Allen producing a faultless display of passing, this was the kind of performance the appointment of Rodgers from Swansea had promised, even if this new style remains firmly in its infancy on Merseyside.

Liverpool should have extended their advantage after 50 minutes when Yaya Toure gave possession away with a sloppy cross-field pass. Borini took possession and slipped a pass inside to Suarez as his team-mate arrived on the edge of the box. Suarez also opted for finesse but failed to get the correct contact on the ball to beat Hart.

City looked strangely listless, a concern in the context of a rather unconvincing 3-2 win at home to Southampton in their opening game of the season, and it required a tactical switch from Mancini to re-establish themselves as a force in the game as he brought on Jack Rodwell for Samir Nasri and pushed Yaya Toure up the pitch. It is a ploy he has used regularly before, and brought immediate rewards.

On 63 minutes, Tevez muscled his way past Sterling on the City right and flung in a rather hopeful cross. However, Reina came and flapped at the ball in the air, meaning Martin Kelly was unprepared to deal with it when he came his way. The defender's attempted clearance was still rather slapstick though and the ball fell to Yaya Toure, who slotted it home from close range.

But it was an undeserved equaliser for a City side uncomfortable in a 3-5-2 formation and horribly sloppy in possession, and Liverpool deservedly stole the lead back inside three minutes. Rodwell fouled Gerrard 25 yards from goal and Suarez dispatched a perfectly judged free kick that curled around the outside of the wall and snuck inside the near post.

Liverpool enjoyed their renewed ascendancy and should have been afforded the chance to take a two-goal lead on 73 minutes when Kolarov brought down Glen Johnson with a clumsy challenge from behind, only to be mystifyingly let off the hook. Liverpool were bemused, and they were made to pay.

Having just cleared superbly from the centre of his own box, Skrtel ruined a fantastic performance with a horrendous lapse of judgement on 80 minutes. After checking back on the left wing, he tried to play a back pass to Reina but instead rolled the ball into the path of Tevez, who did very well to hold his composure, round Reina and tap the ball home.

Liverpool threw on Andy Carroll in an attempted to secure the win they deserved and the striker did come close when seeing a late header cleared off the line by Rodwell. Shelvey went close too with a lovely shot from range but Rodgers was to be denied a win that would have firmly shaken off the blues of an opening defeat at West Brom.

Liverpool missed out on the chance to move up to sixth in the Premier League table after they were held to a 0-0 draw by Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield.

Not even the return of Luis Suarez was enough to stop the Reds sharing the points on their own turf for an eighth time in 12 league games this season.

The stalemate means that Liverpool remain in seventh place, where they are now one point behind Arsenal. Tottenham remain in third following their first goalless draw of the season, five points behind Manchester United and seven short of leaders Manchester City.

This match had been circled in the calendar for many weeks by Liverpool fans because it marked the return from suspension of Suarez. The Uruguay forward was eligible to play for the Reds for the first time since Boxing Day after he completed his eight-match suspension.

However, it looked for a time as though he would again be denied the right to play as a thick fog settled over Anfield which threatened to see the match postponed. Referee Michael Oliver ruled the game could go ahead, but the conditions on a wintry evening in England were enough to make Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp miss the game as his flight from London was cancelled.

Mercifully the fog lifted as kick-off approached, giving all of Anfield a better chance to catch a glimpse of Suarez on the bench and for a phalanx of photographers to snap England manager Fabio Capello in the stand.

Spurs came into this fixture with a host of key players missing, although they were least affected by their absentees at the back as Michael Dawson and Ledley King started together for the first time this season.

Dawson had the Anfield crowd on their feet in the opening five minutes when he felled Andy Carroll with a sliding tackle inside the box after a weighted pass from Steven Gerrard, but Oliver correctly saw that it was a fine challenge from the Spurs defender.

Last Tuesday saw Everton's match with Manchester City at Goodison Park stopped due to a man handcuffing himself to a goalpost, and less than a week later another match on Merseyside was halted by a pitch invader when a cat ran on to the field. The ash grey feline scampered across the turf and past a bemused Brad Friedel before a steward calmly gathered it up.

That intrusion proved to be the main talking point of a first half in which both sides passed the ball around well in midfield but were largely unable to trouble the opposition keeper.

Jay Spearing had one fearsome strike from range but the ball swerved wide and struck the stanchion behind the net. The Liverpool midfielder still awaits his first goal for the club.

Glen Johnson forced a save from Friedel's legs just before half-time, but there was little to separate the two teams at the break.

The home crowd were made to wait for Suarez to be introduced as neither side made a change at the break.

Martin Kelly stung the palms of Friedel from range near the hour mark, but the game was given a big lift when Suarez did eventually make his entrance on 66 minutes.

He appeared to have lost none of his livewire movement or cunning guile during his absence as he was immediately involved, though the more infamous side of his game also emerged soon enough as he earned a booking for a boot to the midriff of Scott Parker less than five minutes after coming on.

Another Liverpool booking soon afterwards went to Martin Skrtel when the Slovakian defender lunged in with a challenge that caught Gareth Bale on the shin. Other officials may have seen that incident differently.

Carroll fired over the bar when he should have at least tested Friedel before Suarez was the most striking example of a Liverpool player who failed to meet a good delivery with a dangerous header.

Bale - who had earlier earned a booking for an act of simulation - could have won the game for Spurs when he beat the offside trap with five minutes remaining. The Welshman was one-on-one with Pepe Reina but the decision to finish through the Spaniard's legs was the wrong call.

With Suarez back among their ranks Liverpool can have fresh cause for optimism, but the fact they had 15 shots against Spurs and were once again unable to find a winner will be of great cause for concern.

Luis Suarez answered his critics with the winning goal as a profligate Liverpool side beat Queens Park Rangers 1-0 at Anfield to move into the top six of the Premier League.

The Uruguayan forward was hit with a second FA charge this week for allegedly making an offensive hand gesture to Fulham fans, adding to his ongoing defence against an accusation of racially abusing Manchester United’s Patrice Evra.

It looked like his bad week may continue as Suarez missed several gilt-edged opportunities, while team-mate Maxi Rodriguez was denied a hat-trick by some excellent goalkeeping by Radek Cerny.

But Suarez’s flicked header early in the second half proved sufficient for a wasteful Reds side to get past a plucky Hoops team, who offered little going forward and were spared a thrashing by some resolute if haphazard defending and the excellence of reserve keeper Cerny.

Kenny Dalglish’s side move into the top six, ahead of a sliding Newcastle, while QPR stay lower-mid table.

The first half was predictably all Liverpool with QPR limited to a couple of half-chances from range that did not come close to testing Pepe Reina.

Just as predictably though the Reds struggled to find the net - Andy Carroll had been left out of the starting XI, so it was Suarez this time lacking in end-product.

The Uruguay forward is as temperamental as he is talented, a lack of focus that applies to both finishing and decision-making - before the match he had the lowest conversion ratio of Premier League forwards who have scored three or more goals, that statistic of under eight per cent as much a result of attempting the spectacular as it is a lack of composure in front of goal.

From eight yards he headed straight at veteran Czech keeper Cerny when found unmarked by a superb Stewart Downing cross, and soon afterwards he drilled a shot across goal and wide from a tight angle when Dirk Kuyt and Maxi were free.

Suarez did exactly the same again late in the half, although that time the chance came about when his initial finish was well-saved by Cerny at the near post, while the former Ajax forward skewed a finish embarrassingly wide after he was set up by Maxi.

Argentine attacking midfielder Maxi - restored to the starting line-up with Jordan Henderson moved inside following injuries to Steven Gerrard, Lucas Leiva, and Jay Spearing's suspension - had a low curling finish well-saved by Cerny, who again showed smart reflexes to keep out Downing’s effort after the England winger was played in by a clever Kuyt backheel.

Somehow it remained goalless at half-time, although that changed almost immediately after the break.

Early in the second half Liverpool won a corner, which the visitors initially defended: the second ball saw Charlie Adam glide in a great cross, with Luke Young dragged woefully out of position to allow Suarez a free header that this time he buried from close range.

Things got worse for QPR though as Anton Ferdinand, who had been by far their most capable defender, went off with a thigh injury after over-stretching while evading an Adam tackle.

Liverpool continued to pepper QPR’s overworked penalty area, with Maxi denied what looked a certain goal by a remarkable save from Cerny, wrongfooted but able to readjust and tip his low finish off the post.

The impressive Cerny made another superb stop from the increasingly exasperated Maxi, spreading himself to block his close-range finish after a succession of one-twos with Suarez played the ex-Atletico Madrid man through.

Such escapes gave QPR a chance to snatch a barely-deserved equaliser, and they almost did so when Danny Gabbidon poked a pinpoint free-kick from Joey Barton wide, while a succession of corners tested the home defence.

Indeed, going a goal down was the best thing that happened to Rangers, who bossed the latter stages although admittedly without forcing any saves of note from Reina.

The counter attack actually suited Liverpool, as Suarez felt Bradley Orr had handled his ball in the box, while substitute Craig Bellamy curled a long-range free-kick into the side netting and QPR winger Shaun Wright-Phillips almost scored a spectacular own-goal as he mis-kicked Bellamy’s cross against his own bar.

As it happened there was not too much for the hosts to worry about as they saw out three minutes of stoppage time to hold on to a victory that snaps a poor home streak of four draws on the trot.

Liverpool's run of four straight wins was brought to an end after they were held to a 1-1 draw by Wigan Athletic at Anfield in the Premier League.

Raul Meireles scored his fifth goal in his last six matches to open the scoring midway through the first half, only for Steve Gohouri to level halfway through the second.

The solitary point is not enough to lift the Latics out of the bottom three, as Wolves were the only team in the bottom half of the table to lose.

Luis Suarez at times dazzled the home crowd with his skills on his full Anfield debut - the Uruguayan was involved in most of Liverpool's best moves forward - although he also displayed his propensity for going to ground with only the slightest encouragement, something which will not win him too many admirers away from Merseyside.

Liverpool just about deserved their lead, although Wigan offered plenty going forward in an open first half.

Charles N'Zogbia weaved his way into the box and fired wide of the far post before Maxi Rodriguez laid off Meireles's pass into the path of Dirk Kuyt, who forced a regulation stop from Ali Al-Habsi.

Meireles struck on 24 minutes when Fabio Aurelio's cross deflected off a Wigan player and dropped perfectly for the Portuguese to strike a crisp volley that beat Al-Habsi. That strike means Meireles has already registered more league goals in this campaign than any other in his career. His haul is even more impressive considering that all of those goals have come within the last month.

Suarez almost doubled Liverpool's lead soon after the restart when he bent an effort off the far post, before Meireles flashed a shot wide from range.

However, Wigan continued to press their hosts without creating many clear chances. Victor Moses worked tirelessly down the left flank while N'Zogbia hit a well-struck free-kick too close to Pepe Reina.

The second half maintained the same pattern, with Suarez drawing a foul and a booking from Antolin Alcaraz on the edge of the box. Aurelio fired the subsequent free-kick over the bar.

Soon afterwards, on 65 minutes, Wigan were level. Kuyt managed to clear the immediate danger from a corner, but N'Zogbia was allowed the time and curl in a dangerous cross that Gohouri prodded past Reina for his first goal since May 2010.

With Meireles now off the field, Maxi took charge of free-kick duties, firing one over the bar and rattling the frame of the goal with another.

Tom Cleverley's introduction briefly boosted Wigan's hopes of scoring a winner, but it was Liverpool who spurned most of the opportunities to claim victory with Maxi, Aurelio and Glen Johnson all firing efforts off target.