KEY POINTS:
Roy Keane says he has not been sleeping well, so Triggs, his faithful dog, could well have been out for a dawn walk again after Sunderland's 1-0 loss to Manchester United in English Premier League yesterday.
It was the newly-promoted Wearsiders' fourth successive defeat without scoring a goal
and came after 71 minutes of dogged resistance when Louis Saha headed home Nani's corner.
Manager Keane was surprisingly upbeat about a performance in which Sunderland failed to produce a goal attempt worth the name.
"I was relatively pleased with the attitude and effort," he said, "though we'd have liked to have tested the goalkeeper more."
"Conceding from set-pieces is always disappointing but the nature of the Premier League is one lapse and you lose."
Liverpool thrashed Derby County 6-0 at Anfield to go top of league for the first time since November 2002. But their stay was likely to be short, with Chelsea visiting Aston Villa overnight.
Two goals from Xabi Alonso and Fernando Torres and one apiece by Ryan Babel and substitute Andriy Voronin helped the Merseysiders crush bottom team Derby, now the only team without a win.
"We are playing well, scoring goals and keeping clean sheets," enthused Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez. "It's good for our supporters to see us top of the league but we now have to keep it going and keep working hard in every game we play.
"We scored six good goals and it's good to see Torres and Voronin scoring.
"Kuyt worked so hard and was unlucky not to score and I really liked Babel's goal."
Liverpool's neighbours Everton went second with a 2-1 victory at Bolton Wanderers, thanks to a last-minute winner from Joleon Lescott after Ayegbeni Yakubu, who moved to Everton from Middlesbrough for a club record £11.25 million ($32.78 million) this week, scored 11 minutes into his debut. Nicolas Anelka scored for Bolton.
Liverpool have 10 points, the same as Everton and Chelsea with Manchester City, who played at Blackburn Rovers overnight, next, on nine.
Michael Owen, regaining full fitness, scored in the 87th minute to give Newcastle United a 1-0 win over Wigan Athletic, who had Kevin Kilbane sent off. Owen dashed between two defenders to pounce three minutes from time to add to the goal he scored in mid-week - his first for Newcastle after 20 injury-hit months.
Fulham stormed back from 2-0 and 3-1 down to force a 3-3 draw with Tottenham Hotspur at Craven Cottage while Middlesbrough beat Birmingham City 2-0.
West Ham United avenged last season's 6-0 defeat at Reading by winning 3-0 at the Madejski Stadium. Arsenal hosted Portsmouth in the remaining match overnight.
- Independent, Reuters