Liverpool 2 Wolves 1 - Report

Disappointing and frustrating defending allowed the hosts to gain a strong lead as Luis Diaz put them ahead, before Mohamed Salah’s penalty put them firmly in control.

But some individual quality from Matheus Cunha made it 2-1 with 23 minutes of normal time still to play.

Wolves pushed for an equaliser in the latter stages but were unable to rescue a point against the league leaders.

Analysis

Vitor Pereira made one change from the last Premier League match, when Wolves beat Villa at Molineux.

Jean-Ricner Bellegarde dropped to the bench, while Joao Gomes came into the midfield.

Sam Johnstone and Rodrigo Gomes were not included as they missed out through injury, meaning Dan Bentley and Boubacar Traore were named among the substitutes.

For Traore, it was the first squad he was named in since having surgery for a serious knee injury in August.

Arne Slot made two changes to his Liverpool side after their midweek draw with Everton.

Trent Alexander-Arnold and former Wolves forward Diogo Jota came in, replacing Conor Bradley and the injured Cody Gakpo.

Curtis Jones was not involved after picking up a red card against the Toffees, while Slot was still on the touchline despite his sending off, as he goes through the process of being charged by the FA.

As the game got under way Liverpool quickly won a corner and, from a training ground routine, created a chance within the opening minute, but Alexander-Arnold fired wide inside the box.

Wolves were offering some threat on the counter, but it was Liverpool dominating possession and they came close when Nelson Semedo initially did well to reach a defensive header at the back post, but the ball fell for Jota, who lashed wide in a good area.

Liverpool then took the lead after 15 minutes when Pablo Sarabia lost the ball cheaply on a Wolves attack and the hosts broke forward.

It was a sloppy goal to concede from Wolves’ perspective, as Salah’s touch came off Toti Gomes and fell to Diaz in the box, who beat Jose Sa to it and got enough on the ball to knock it over the line.

Liverpool could have had a second when Jota was handed a free header from a corner, but he nodded the ball over the bar.

The Wolves players and bench became increasingly irritated as Liverpool committed a number of transition fouls, without referee Simon Hooper handing out a single yellow card. Instead, Matt Doherty was booked for complaining.

Moments later, Pereira was also given a yellow card before Liverpool’s Ibrahima Konate was finally booked for another transition foul.

Sa was called into action again when he got a hand on a Diaz cross but it only fell as far as Jota, who forced the goalkeeper into a near post save.

Liverpool finally got their second in the 37th minute and it was another very avoidable goal from Wolves’ point of view.

A long ball for Diaz should have caused Wolves no issues, but Emmanuel Agbadou completely missed the ball for his attempted clearance and the outrushing Sa made enough contact, albeit minimal, to bring Diaz down for a penalty, which Salah easily converted.

At the other end, Konate fouled Cunha while already on a yellow and as Wolves screamed for a red card, Agbadou was booked for his complaints.

Wolves had an opening for a goal late in the half but Cunha’s shot was blocked, as they entered the half-time break losing 2-0.

As the teams came out for the second half, Wolves replaced Sarabia and Goncalo Guedes with Marshall Munetsi and Bellegarde, while Liverpool took off Konate for Jarell Quansah.

Wolves should have got a goal back quickly when Bellegarde’s flick put Munetsi through on goal, but his shot was saved by Alisson.

Salah then had the ball in the net after finishing off a counter-attack, but he was flagged offside.

Liverpool were awarded a penalty when Agbadou slid in and Jota went down but VAR intervened and after referee Hooper checked the pitch side monitor, the penalty was overturned.

However, Agbadou injured himself in the process and was replaced by Santi Bueno.

Out of nowhere, Wolves dragged themselves back into the game in the 67th minute with a bit of individual brilliance from Cunha.

The Brazilian picked the ball up on the edge of the box, faked a shot and turned before curling the ball into the bottom corner with his left foot to give Wolves a lifeline.

Wolves were pushing for an equaliser and had a big chance when Cunha found Tommy Doyle, who crossed low for Munetsi, but Quansah did well to get ahead of him and clear his lines.

Liverpool were hanging on towards the end of six minutes of added time, but Wolves were unable to find a second goal as they fell to defeat.

Key Moments

GOAL 15 Diaz puts Liverpool ahead

GOAL 37 Salah makes it 2-0 from the penalty spot

GOAL 67 Cunha gives Wolves a lifeline with an excellent strike

Teams

Wolves: Sa, Semedo (Lima, 92), Doherty, Agbadou (Bueno, 61), Toti, Ait-Nouri, Andre, J.Gomes (Doyle, 83), Sarabia (Bellegarde, 45), Cunha, Guedes (Munetsi, 45).

Subs not used: Bentley, Djiga, Traore, Forbs.

Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold (Bradley, 64), Konate (Quansah, 45), Van Dijk, Robertson, Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Salah, Szoboszlai, Jota (Nunez, 64), Diaz (Endo, 71).

Subs not used: Kelleher, Tsimikas, McConnell, Elliott, Chiesa.