Liverpool 2-1 Wolves: Back-to-back goals from Ryan Gravenbirch and Florian Wirths in the first half see Arne Slott’s side home to the team bottom of the Premier League.
Liverpool withstood late pressure and overcame the bottom team in the Premier League, with Florian Wirtz finally scoring his first goal. It was far from champagne football for the home team, but they pretty much completed the task of moving up to fourth place against Wolves.
Hugo Ekitike and Alexis Mac Allister hit the post twice before Liverpool took the lead. Jeremy Frimpong reached the byline with explosive pace and cut the ball back for Ryan Gravenbirch to curl into the bottom corner of the near post.
About 90 seconds later, Ekitike found space and slipped Wirtz in, one-on-one with goalkeeper Jose Sa, who tipped his toe in for Liverpool’s first goal, making it 2-0. The game looked like it was over, but Wolves only cut the deficit in half from a corner kick.
Tor Alokodare dove over a stationary Ibrahima Konate and Alisson had no choice but to force his header past Santiago Bueno. Santiago Bueno scored Wolves’ 10th league goal of the season off a rebound. As Wolves looked to equalize, Alokodea’s header went over the bar, forcing Conor Bradley to make a goal-saving tackle.
Wolves were unable to convert and Liverpool moved past Manchester United and Chelsea in the Premier League table, with the Blues facing Aston Villa in Saturday’s second-half kick-off. Here’s what’s hot from Anfield:
read more: Liverpool and Wolves pay emotional tribute to Diogo Jota with his widow and children at Anfieldread more: Marc Guehy latest transfer, Liverpool updated ahead of January deadline
1. Touch Jota’s tribute
It’s always going to be an emotional occasion at Anfield, where Liverpool and Wolves meet for the first time since the tragic death of Diogo Jota, and that proved to be the case. Jota’s widow Lute Cardoso was in the stands, and her two children appeared as mascots along with Virgil van Dijk.
A special rendition of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ was sung before kick-off, and in the 20th minute Jota’s trademark song echoed through the stadium with even more poignancy. Liverpool coped brilliantly with an unthinkable situation and this was another great example of them.
2. Wirtz is off the mark.
It’s been a long time coming for Florian Wirths. For better or worse, the German playmaker will always be judged on price and a poor start in the new, more physical league appears to have affected his confidence. But there have been plenty of signs lately that Wirtz is starting to calm down.
His first goal for Liverpool in his 23rd appearance showed that the club had paid that much for the player. He swapped positions with Ekitike and moved into the centre-forward position, collecting passes and passing the onrushing Sa. He beat his chest in celebration and jumped high into the air, a weight being lifted off his shoulders.
3. Your weakness is exploited
Wolves returned to the game from a corner kick. Alokodare easily beat Konate in the air, but the French defender tried to claim he had been fouled. Allison tried her best, but the rebound fell perfectly for Bueno.
Bad luck? Or is it a sign of something bigger? As X’s Josh Williams pointed out, Liverpool have scored three goals and conceded 12 from set-pieces this season, the worst goal difference of this kind in the Premier League. This is surprising given the outstanding centre-back abilities of Van Dijk and Konate, and a concern for Arne Slott.
4. Public audition
Mohamed Salah is absent for the African Cup of Nations and there is still uncertainty over his future at the club, so there is a vacant spot in the squad. Slott started right-winger Federico Chiesa, giving the Italian a rare chance to impress from the off. He couldn’t accept it at all, and worse, he lost to someone else.
Frimpong, who had just returned from injury, started the game at right-back, but with his hard work and pace, he reached the goal line and was able to link up with Graben Birch to create the opening goal. When Chiesa was replaced by Conor Bradley, the former Bayer Leverkusen man was freed to move around on the wing and received much applause for his efforts.
5. Encouragement to the wolves
It appears it is already too late in terms of avoiding relegation. But that’s certainly not the case in terms of avoiding the worst record in Premier League history. And on this evidence, Wolves could, and perhaps should have, avoided going down in history as the top flight’s worst ever team.
Last season’s Southampton, and famously Derby County vintage, would have hoped that would not be the case, but there were signs of life in Rob Edwards’ side, with Alokodea looking dangerous up front, and the team moving forward genuinely believing they could get the equaliser. That didn’t happen, but it was a positive performance for a team still at the bottom of the league with just two points.
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