LIVERPOOL 2 SUNDERLAND 1
25. Vito Mannone
27. Santiago Vergini
16. John O'Shea
5. Wes Brown
2. Phil Bardsley
26. Liam Bridcutt
33. Lee Cattermole
3. Andrea Dossena 83'
23. Emanuele Giaccherini 61'
17. Jozy Altidore
10. Connor Wickham 61'
Subs
4. Ki Sung-Yueng 61'
7. Sebastian Larsson
11. Adam Johnson 61'
14. Jack Colback 83'
29. Valentin Roberge
30. Nacho Scocco
32. Oscar Ustari
Struggling Sunderland were a hurdle they were expected to clear comfortably but the 2-1 scoreline showed it was not a trademark performance of fluidity and control.
Steven Gerrard's free-kick broke their opponents' resistance late in the first half but it was Daniel Sturridge's strike just after the break which had statisticians reaching for the history books before substitute Ki Sung-Yeung's header made for a tense finish.
In scoring his 20th league goal of the campaign, moving to within eight of team-mate Luis Suarez, England international Sturridge ensured he and his strike partner achieved a feat not seen in these parts for 50 years since Ian St John and Roger Hunt achieved it.
Only six times previously have two Liverpool players scored 20 league goals apiece and in four of those campaigns they went on to win a league title - twice Division One and twice Division Two.
A banner in the Kop before kick-off read 'Anything is possible if you believe' and by the end the stadium was reverberating to chants of 'We're going to win the league'.
There is still plenty of ground to cover before their 24-year wait becomes a reality and the visits of Chelsea and Manchester City take on greater significance with every passing day.
But a seventh successive victory moved them back into second place in the table, just a point behind the Stamford Bridge club, and two ahead of City, who have a couple of matches in hand.