MARIO BALOTELLI was shell-shocked by the icy temperatures and gusty winds at the Stadium of Light, but Liverpool’s players were not the ones caught cold during another alarming afternoon for Sunderland.

By the time the controversial Italian forward headed for the team coach muttering to his team-mates that they were leaving one of the coldest cities he has visited, the Black Cats had to come to terms with yet another poor result that leaves them in a relegation mess.

Sunderland were made to pay for a dreadful start when Lazar Markovic coasted through in the ninth minute to hit the game’s only goal after the home defence opened up. Liverpool should have been out of sight by half-time.

There was a slight improvement after the break, but with the exception of an Adam Johnson thunderbolt which rocketed off the bar, Sunderland still struggled to cause genuine problems and Simon Mignolet never really looked like conceding on his return to Wearside.

Such troubles in and around the penalty area are familiar to Gus Poyet. The Uruguayan head coach has looked for improvements in that area since taking over 15 months ago. On this evidence a solution remains as far away as ever.

Perhaps just as concerning against Liverpool was the standard of defending. For that Poyet has to take his share of the blame. Tactically Sunderland failed to come to terms with their opponents’ unorthodox wing-back system.

Santiago Vergini and Patrick van Aanholt were regularly exposed. As they tracked attacking midfielders Steven Gerrard and Philipe Coutinho more often than not, Sunderland’s own wide-men, Johnson and Emanuele Giaccherini, regularly occupied full-back slots.

Poyet spoke afterwards of his players needing to adapt when things are not going well because it took until his half-time teamtalk for things to improve. Even the simple things were done poorly, with routine passes going astray and Liverpool’s players regularly given far too much freedom and time on the ball.

Costel Pantilimon, the Romanian keeper given little protection by those wearing red and white in front of him, said: “We did not play well. We can do a lot better than this. We have to work hard to improve on that performance in the future.

“I can’t say that I’m worried, but we know we played badly in the first half. I hope there is no repeat of the same mistakes. We must do better. It was not the best, but in the second half we were a bit better. It is important not to dwell on it, but identify the mistakes we made and where we went wrong and to improve.”

There is a growing sense that Sunderland’s euphoric and historic fourth consecutive win over Newcastle before Christmas merely papered over the cracks. That remains the Wearside club’s only win since November 3.

Poyet has made no secret of his wish to strengthen this month, but the vibes from him since the transfer window opened have been different. He keeps stressing the difficulties in bringing the right men in during January.

But if Sunderland fail to add the extra striker required – and possibly one or two more to improve creativity – then it is hard to see how Poyet can suddenly turn this same group of players in to a team capable of avoiding yet another relegation fight. He has made is clear that he does not think a change of system will benefit this crop of players either.

“We are all upset and disappointed,” said Pantilimon. “That is normal. It is not a good moment for us because it feels like we can do so much more. This is football. We have to realise that we have quality and we have to use it.”

That last comment could be taken a couple of ways, although he would not state whether he thought the team should take more risks going forward. What was clear, though, was that the system used by Poyet does not give much licence for a lone striker to break in behind a defence.

Connor Wickham was replaced by Danny Graham, who did look more dangerous in 13 minutes than Wickham did for the majority of the game, to try to address that. Yet even when Steven Fletcher starts up there the same problems tend to exist.

Markovic’s opener, when he poked a finish beyond the keeper after his run ended with Fabio Borini laying off for him to run on to, separated the two teams but Liverpool never really looked in any real danger.

The Serbian, who should have had an earlier penalty when Wes Brown tripped him in the area, also crashed a scintillating scissor kick against the bar, while Steven Gerrard hit the side netting and Borini should have scored after rounding Pantilimon.

Liam Bridcutt’s sending off three minutes after the break – having followed up a caution for a trip on Gerrard by stopping Emre Can near the touchline – actually helped Sunderland improve, but in reality it just never happened.

Defeat means Sunderland have won just one of their ten home matches this season; in fact they have claimed only three victories from 21 games in the Premier League highlighting why they sit nervously above the relegation zone.

Pantilimon said: “I can’t say why we’ve won so few games this season. When we beat Newcastle that was a good game and I said then that we must continue to play like that. We haven’t done that. That’s what we’ve got to get back to.”

Should Saturday's North Sea gales wind be used as an excuse? He said: “The last two games have been very difficult against two teams in form, Manchester City and Liverpool, but at home we’ve got to do much better.

“We cannot blame the windy conditions for this. It’s the same for both sides. When it’s windy you have to adapt and they did it better than us.

“It is frustrating for all of us, because we know that we can do so much better. I think we understand where it went wrong and what we can do to improve it.

“It’s true that Sunderland fans have not seen enough wins, especially at home. They are with us all the time and it is difficult for them, but they have to stay close to us. We hope to improve.”