MANCHESTER, England -- Luis Suarez returned to the Premier League in explosive fashion on Sunday, teaming up with strike partner Daniel Sturridge to propel Liverpool to a 3-1 win at Sunderland that inflicted more misery on the divisions managerless bottom team. Liverpool climbed to second place in the standings, two points behind Arsenal, after Suarez added to Sturridges contentious opening goal that came off his arm by scoring twice at the Stadium of Light. After serving a 10-match ban for biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic during a league match in April, Suarez made his comeback in a frustrating League Cup loss to Manchester United on Wednesday. He found the cutting edge against Sunderland, though, to help Liverpool earn a fourth win in six games and provide another demonstration of his burgeoning partnership with Sturridge that was cut short by Suarezs act of folly five months ago. "Hes getting the reward for his hard work over the period that he was off," Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers said of Suarez. "Him and Daniel up front are a real, real handful. They combined very well." Norwich beat Stoke 1-0 in Sundays other match, with Jonny Howson scoring the winner from long range in the 34th minute to secure his teams second victory of the season. Suarez couldnt have asked for more compliant opposition in his comeback match in the Premier League, with Sunderland having now lost five of its six games and being stranded at the foot of the table on just one point. Interim manager Kevin Ball, who is in charge following the firing of Paolo Di Canio last weekend, was unable to shore up the leagues leakiest defence in the face of one of the leading strike partnerships in English football. Sturridge climbed to the top of the scoring charts with his fifth goal of the campaign, inadvertently bundling the ball in with his upper arm after misjudging the flight of Steven Gerrards corner in the 28th minute. Sturridge then turned provider, cutting in from the right and crossing for Suarez to poke in at the far post in the 36th. After Emanuele Giaccherini had halved the deficit in the 52nd, the same combination struck for Liverpool again to seal victory in the 89th, Sturridge making inroads down the left flank this time and crossing for Suarez to hook home a left-footed finish. "Its great to have him back in, he gives us options and hes one of the best forwards in the league," Sturridge said of Suarez. "We form a good partnership." Liverpool went above third-place Tottenham on goals scored and is now six points above arch-rival Man United, which sits in 12th place after losing 2-1 to West Bromwich Albion on Saturday. United is level on seven points with Stoke and Norwich, who served up poor fare at Britannia Stadium except for Howsons brilliant effort that separated the sides. "It was a disappointing performance and we were poor," said Stoke manager Mark Hughes, whose team outplayed Man City in its last home game. "We never got any pace or power into our game, which is unlike us." Carlos Beltran Jersey . -- Center Max Unger and tight end Zach Miller are both probable for the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday against the New York Giants and Percy Harvins recovery continues to be slow. Jake Marisnick Jersey . The 26-year-old Redditch, England, native played three of his past four seasons under Rennie with the Carolina RailHawks of the North American Soccer League. http://www.astrosteamproshop.com/Astros-...an-Kids-Jersey/. Here at TSN.ca we will take a look back at the season by bringing together a panel of experts to help pick the best 50 players of the season. Lance McCullers Jersey .S. Basketball Writers Association. McDermott, who finished his career at Creighton as college basketballs fifth-leading scorer, accepted the honour from Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson at AT&T Stadium, site of the Final Four. Charlie Morton Jersey . Louis Blues are reportedly taking restricted free agent forward Vladimir Sobotka to arbitration.SAN DIEGO - The doors to baseballs Hall of Fame remained shut to this years Golden Era committee candidates.Nine players and one executive whose primary contributions were from 1947-72 all failed to receive the 75 per cent of the vote needed for election.The results today are a reminder that election to the Hall of Fame is incredibly difficult and the highest honour an individual can receive in baseball, Hall of Fame chairman Jane Forbes Clark said after the voting was announced Monday at the annual winter meetings.Dick Allen and Tony Oliva came closest, each receiving 11 of 16 votes, one shy of the 75 per cent needed for election. Jim Kaat appeared on 10 ballots, Maury Wills nine and Minnie Minoso eight.Ken Boyer, Gil Hodges, Billy Pierce and Luis Tiant each received three or fewer votes, as did the late Cincinnati Reds general manager Bob Howsam.Each voter was allowed to choose up to four candidates in a secret ballot, meaning there were 64 possible votes in all.Voters who deliberated at Sundays confidential committee meeting included Hall of Famers Jim Bunning, Rod Carew, Pat Gillick, Ferguson Jenkins, Al Kaline, Joe Morgan, Ozzie Smith and Don Sutton; baseball executives Jim Frey, David Glass, Roland Hemond and Bob Watson; and media members Steve Hirdt, Dick Kaegel, Phil Pepe and Tracy Ringolsby.It was a very, very difficult decision for each and every member of the committee in this process, said Gillick, an executive in the Hall. I think there were very, very healthy conversations on each candidate — the pros and and cons — and most of the conversation yesterday was on the very, very positive of these candidates. Its just unfortunate that one or two didnt get in. I am disappointed, but again it points out how very, very difficult it is to earn a plaque in Cooperstown.The Golden Era committee met for the second time since the Veterans Committee was reformatted in 2010 panels to consider three distinct eras.dddddddddddd In 2011, Chicago Cubs great Ron Santo was elected by the Golden Era panel. Managers Joe Torre, Bobby Cox and Tony La Russa were unanimously elected last year by the Expansion Era committee.The pre-Pre-Integration Era committee, which considers candidates whose primary contributions were through 1946, gathers at next years winter meetings in Nashville, Tennessee. The Expansion Era committee (1973 and later) votes again at the 2016 winter meetings in Washington, D.C.The Hall is constantly evaluating its procedures. Last summer it cut a players eligibility from 15 years to 10 on the Baseball Writers Association of America ballot, just the second change in voting rules since 1985. The BBWAA failed to elect a player in 2013.Dont expect a knee-jerk reaction to no one being elected by a Veterans committee for the first time since 2007.I think we need to take the results of not only this year but the past elections under this format and go back and have time to look at it and see if it still addresses the purpose of the Veterans committee as its laid out by era — by how the ballots composed of players, managers, umpires and see if its still viable, Clark said.The board never takes for granted that our procedures are perfect going forward, she added. We are always looking, we are always trying to make it better and we are always trying, most importantly, to uphold the standard of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.The BBWAA will announce its vote Jan. 6. Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez and John Smoltz are the top newcomers. Craig Biggio, who fell two votes short of the 75 per cent needed in the 2014 balloting, tops holdovers that include Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, Mike Piazza, Jeff Bagwell and Tim Raines. ' ' '