What-ho! Andy Hunter’s report is with us:
So that’s us done here. Join Rob Smyth for Spurs v Man United, =enjoy the rest of the weekend, and peace out.
An own-goal brace, oof madone. Jamie Carragher bagged one of them against Man United in September 99, but tangentially, how good was this?
Also going on:
“Next three games are massive,” reckons Bob Coyne. “If Liverpool play like they did in that second half against Villa, City and Newcastle, their lead could be down to one point.”
That feels unlikely but I agree with the gist: even if they drop points in one of those games, if Arsenal win their corresponding three, with a four or five-point gap, the race is on. Problem is, Mikel Arteta’s men don’t look like a side able to overturn so significant a gap, and I fear they don’t have the attacking depth to pinch tight games.
Andy Robertson says Wolves played well second half, leaving more men up front, but also thinks Liverpool have to be better on the ball and recorded a crucial win. He’ll be ecstatic to learn I agree on all counts.
“Re. Shearer,” begins Dave Estherby, “‘he was amazing at Blackburn before the first cruciate…’. Boxing Day 1992 that happened, four months into his Blackburn career.
He ended up with 260 goals, which is still the PL record. Think he was pretty amazing AFTER that injury my friend.”
Sure, he was. But after the second cruciate, he wasn’t close to the best around I don’t think, and as I said, when you’re ranking players all of whom are amazing, I’d take goals scored under pressure above those not. You might wanna say Shearer’s longevity counts for something and it does, but it doesn’t, in my opinion, make his best better than that of Henry, Van Nistelrooy, Rooney, Suarez and so on – and most of their goals, the first three especially, came in games competing for titles.
How they stand:
Wondering what to do with the rest of the afternoon?
We got ya’ll.
FULL TIME: Liverpool 2-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Liverpool do enough! They restore their seven-point advantage at the top and, though there was enough evidence of expiring form for Arsenal to take heart, it’s hard to see either side playing badly enough or well enough two swap places. Wolves, meanwhile, were good, especially in the second half, and there’s not a chance they go down.
90+6 min Wolves get it out right, Lima looking to get a cross in, but Endo makes a mouser’s challenge wins a free-kick, and Liverpool are nearly there.
90+5 min Mac Allister is down, stays there as long as he can, and Liverpool win a throw deep inside the Wolves half, taking as long over it as they can; the ref indicates he’s stopping the watch.
90+4 min There’s some serious tension in the ground now; the run-in is upon us.
90+3 min Dolye’s free-kick is into the wall and behind; the corner comes to nothing.
90+2 min Wolves send on Pedro Lima for the injured Semedo.
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90+1 min Bellegarde picks up a second ball and finds Ait-Nouri, but Wolves are forced backwards. No matter: they find Airt-Nouri again, Alisson punches his cross away when he should catch, then Cunha perhaps fouls Endo, skids away, and when they come together a second time, the ref gives Wolves a free-kick on the edge of the box, right of centre. Cunha and Ait-Nouri are behind the ball, now Ait-Nouri and Doyle…
90 min We’ll have six additional minutes.
88 min And Wolves almost conjure an opportunity! Cunha carries – what a player he is –then punches out to Doyle, who crosses low and hard, but Quansah, sliding in, makes a fantastic interception to stop the ball reaching Munetsi. It didn’t look loads, but when the season is over, it might just stand as a crucial moment of it.
87 min If, somehow, Wolves can fashion an equaliser, they’ll be reanimating the title race; these next three minutes plus whatever’s left are the most important of the season so far.
86 min The Kop try and sing their team home; the sense now is that Wolves may get a sniff with a set-piece, but they don’t look likely to prise Liverpool apart.
85 min “Since we’re all being obliged to play this game,” says Richard Hirst, “may I say I think your dismissal of Dalglish was cavalier. In terms of footballing intelligence, the capacity to make goals as well as score them, he was head and shoulders above the others mentioned, especially Ronaldo.”
I only caught the end of Dalglish and I wasn’t meaning to dismiss him, but there are plenty who don’t think he was even the best Scottish player ever, never mind the best in the history of English football. I said he was a strange place to start but that wasn’t to disparage his quality, at all.
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83 min Another change for Wolves, Doyle replacing Gomes. I’m a little surprised by who’s gone off – Gomes is more likely to create than Andre – but I guess Pereira wants some ballast to avoid conceding a third goal.
81 min I’d be amazed if Wolves go down. They’re far better than the three promoted clubs, have a reliable scorer, and their new manager has a clear plan that his players understand.
80 min Wolves win another free-kick, this time 35 yards out, just right of centre, but Cunha’s kick goes beyond the back post and Toti’s attempted flick actually allows Liverpool to counter … the attack halted by Semedo’s foul.
77 min Liverpool knock it about, taking heat out of the game – a few moments ago, we saw a graphic advising us that Wolves have taken the last 10 shots, but things have settled a little these last couple of minutes.
75 min “On Salah and the pantheon,” emails Jim Paterson, “I think he’s top five easy, maybe third max behind Henry and Shearer (Kane, Rooney and Ronaldo may disagree). I think your point earlier about him being the key player in this side is maybe why it’s easier to recognise his talent and why players like Keane maybe get a little less love in these rankings: they’re a key cog rather than the key player. Which is what made Henry so amazing: in an all-time great side, he was still clearly head and shoulders above everyone else.”
Yeah I’d not have Shearer anything like that high – he was amazing at Blackburn before the first cruciate and still brilliant after, but when I’m looking to split greats, I guess I value high-pressure games over numbers when playing with inferior talents.
74 min Cunha drives through midfield and looks to slide Munetsi through, but someone, I don’t see who, intercepts.
73 min A quiet period. Wolves need to get Gomes on the ball, because he has the eye and touch to find Cunha.
71 min Van Dijk misjudges the path of the ball, makes a challenge anyway, and is booked. Incidentally and if I remember correctly, Rio Ferdinand went two seasons at Leeds without getting cautioned, and did 50-0odd games around 09-09.
71 min Slot is concerned, replacing Diaz, an attacker, with Endo, a destroyer.
70 min Wolves are coming, Bellewgarde lifting a diagonal ball over the top that just defeats Cunha’s stretch.
68 min Just before the goal, Carragher noted that a better side than Wolves might’ve punished Liverpool’s carelessness in defence by now, and a game that looked and felt won is suddenly in the balance. No wonder Robertson is aghast at the concession of a corner, headed over the top by Gomes. There’s a different feeling around Anfield now.
WHAT A GOAL! Liverpool 2-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers (Cunha 67)
It had to be him! With the game meandering to a close, out of nothing, Cunha accepts a pass 25 yards from goal, fools Gravenberch and Van Dijk with a sway outside and dip inside, then curls a gorgeous left-footed finish around Alisson’s dive and just inside the near post, a yard off the ground. He is very, very serious; game on!
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65 min Back to Bale, Nelson Calvinho has some thoughts: “Actually Madrid need the Mourinho asterisk. It was Mourinho who built the team that would go on to win several Champions League trophies (Varane, Coentrão, Di Maria, Modric, Ozil, Khedira...) Real barely made beyond the last 16 in the previous seasons...”
I’m absolutely certain only Mourinho had the relentless cruelty necessary to nab a league title off Guardiola’s Barca. Sadly, the experience broke his genius, but still, what a genius.
65 min Changes for Liverpool, Bradley and Nunez for Alexander-Arnold and Jota.
63 min A stray flash of Cunha, beating Alexander-Arnold to a risky pass from Gravenberch and punching a pass into Gomes, inside the box; he dips inside, then unfurls a curler … that wafts wide.
61 min Agbadou, who now knows more of what “oor league” is about, can’t continue and is replaced by Bueno.
60 min Agbadou, hurt making the challenge, is still down receiving treatment.
58 min VAR summons the ref
And he reverses the call. No penalty, and Jota can consider himself fortunate not to be booked for diving, I think.
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57 min PENALTY TO LIVERPOOL!
Excellent from Gravenberch, talking of Vieira, striding through midfield and sliding to Jota who dips inside as Agbadou slides in wildly. But he doesn’t plough through his man; rather., Jota makes sure he clips foot on torso. This might be overturned…
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55 min “Always think Viera gets a rough deal,” says Tom, “being in the shadow of Henry so to speak because of Henry’s goalscoring prowess. Peak Viera has to be
up there with anyone really although you mention Keane who won more.”
I love Vieira and I’m biased in favour of Keane, but I don’t think this is much of a comparison. United won more than Arsenal significantly because Keane was better than Vieira, and of the three titles Vieira’s Arsenal won, Keane did his cruciate in 97-98, missed just enough games for it to make the difference in 01-02 and was over the hill by 03-04. Wonderful, wonderful player though/
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53 min I owe Munetsi an apology, I think: he swept a decent finish above Alisson’s dive, only to hit the keeper in the head, meaning the save that is even more Casillas than I thought. I’ve never seen anyone so good at stopping shots apparently by accident.
51 min Saha is away, he passes into the far corner … and the flag’s up
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50 min Ball into Bellgarde, who flicks beautifully, and Munetsi is in! He looks up, composes and, with the sight of Alisson advancing, panics, passing a tepid finish into the keeper’s dive. Good save, though – there’s a touch of Iker Casillas in how Alisson makes strikers rush and look poor.
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48 min “Completely agree on the original Ronaldo, truly magnificent player! says Henry. “I may be biased as a Liverpool fan, but I find very few of our players to be irritating or dirty. That said, while I love his hard work, Diaz always needs to leave his foot in and exaggerate contact for penalties, and it drives me nuts! There’s already enough contact, there’s no need for it. Another point, Konate is a talented player, but his occasional idiotic decisions make me always feel that the defence with him will never be as secure as it should be. I mean, why go for that header?!”
Konate is one of those who shows how hard defending is – the raw materials are all there, but he can’t quite keep hold of them, hence the impetuosity we saw this afternoon. And at 25, you’ve got to assume he is who he is.
46 min A poor touch from Salah – it’s an epidemic! – and Bellegarde has space down the left, tucking back a cut-back that Quansah does well to intercept as Cunha looks to shoot.
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46 min Half-time changes: Liverpool change Quansah for Konate, Wolves Bellegarde for Sarabia and Munetsi for Guedes.
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46 min We go again…
“Are we allowed to nominate players from before Murdoch (BM)?” wonders Gary Lorrison. “Such as oh I don’t know Kenny Dalglish? Why use an arbitrary league name change due to a TV deal as a cut off point for year zero?”
Er, because it marks an epochal change in English football? Or maybe because I didn’t watch Billy Meredith, Danny Blanchflower, Duncan Edwards and George Best? But if we’re talking ever, Kenny Dalglish is a peculiar place to start.
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Half-time email: “I’ve seen some interesting takes on Virgil Van Dijk over the years,” says Paul Roocfroft, “but suggesting he only looks so good because there are no decent strikers has to take the biscuit. Name the best quality of any of the best central-defenders in the Premier League era and VVD at least matches them. As fast as Ferdinand, physically as dominant as Vidic and Campbell, better passer than all of them, positionally as good as Terry and he is always available (except for the ACL). He simply doesn’t have a weakness and excels at pretty much every aspect of centre back play.”
Er, that’s not what I said? I said he’s done well to be around when the standard of strikers is less good than previously, a truth I assumed was self-evident given Messi and Ronaldo were way past their best by the time he was good. I don’t think he’s as good a ball-carrier as Ferdinand nor as good a last-ditch blocker as Terry and, while we’re at it, not as good as Vidic at hunting for headers to win, stopping attacks before they get going. Add to that all those three have more league titles than he does, and it’s silly to suggest he’s as good as they are at everything, though of course legitimate to consider him superior.
Half-time entertainment:
HALF-TIME: Liverpool 2-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Liverpool have been good enough; Wolves have struggled to create anything.
45+1 min Three added minutes.
45 min “I don’t think there has been a player in the Premier League like Mo, never will be,” says Kev. “Incidentally, I love Diaz and Gakpo has been playing a blinder this year. But I think Lucho is wasted as a false 9, hence the rumours about him going to Barca/Saudi.”
I agree Salah is unique, but so is everyone. I don’t think I could put him above Henry or Ronaldo, and of course it’s difficult once we move away from attackers – Roy Keane, say, dominated the league and won six titles, the ones his team didn’t win when he was at his peak coming in seasons he got injured.
42 min “To be clear,” writes Liam McCubbin, “it was not until Bale rocked up at Madrid that Ronaldo was able to bring out the Brasso. All the trophies he won there need the Bale asterisk*: golf, Madrid, Ronaldo Brasso ... in that order.”
Ha! Bale is also one of the greatest international footballers of all time. I genuinely can’t think of many even in his postcode.
41 min Already, Quansah is warming up: Konate’s impetuosity is going to see him hooked at half-time.
40 min Cunha takes aim, curling over the wall … and just wide of the angle.
39 min Konate flings himself into a header with the ball long gone, clattering Cunha instead. Free-kick Wolves, 2 yards out, just left of the D, and with no second yellow shown – rightly so – Agbadou is booked for gesturing that there should’ve been.
38 min Looking again at the penalty award, Diaz gave Agbadou a little shove, but I’m glad VAR didn’t intervene: it needs a higher bar to overturn, and football is a chaotic game in which bodies collide, inadvertently or on purpose.
GOAL! Liverpool 2-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers (Salah 37 pen)
Salah stutters, runs up, then curls high and middle as Sa dives right.
Updated
PENALTY TO LIVERPOOL!
A long ball, a careless foot wavesdat it by Agbadou, and Sa has a split-second to decide what to do, committing himself as Diaz latches on, knowing if he can just get a touch, the inevitable cleaning out will follow. He does and he does, gloves introduced to boot, and Salah has a chance to double his side’s advantage.
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34 min Back to the Ronaldos, to be fair, I should also say that I was in the Olimpico the night Cristiano scored that header against Roma, and then too I was absolutely staggered, barely able to believe what I’d seen.
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34 min Again, Wolves get a good head on a corner; again, it falls to Alexander-Arnold, who slices over the top.
32 min Here come Liverpool again, a fine ball out to the right by Szboszlai collected by Diaz, who pulls back, and though Sa gets a strong hand on it, Jota collects – though not when and where he’d like – momentum taking him away from goal before he swivels into a shot that’s blocked behind.
31 min Cunha threatens to counter, Konate hauls him back, and is booked.
30 min “Another unpopular opinion re Ronaldo,” writes David Walsh, “is that the best Ronaldo was 96-98 and Brazilian.”
I agree. I’ve never seen as shockingly brilliant a player as Ronaldo Nazario – I could not believe my eyes the year he was at Barca. Here are some words I wrote on him.
29 min The ref chugs over to the Wolves bench and shows someone, Vitor Pereira I think, a yellow card for mouth after a free-kick his side didn’t get. That’s two in two games for Never-bite-yer-tongue, as he’ll surely soon be known.
27 min Szboszlai picks up possession 23 yards out, right of centre, and fizzes a low show … just wide of the far post.
26 min “Contract predictions,” begins DDJ Stephens. “Trent will go. Mo will go. Virgil will stay. Trent will depart a legend, but Bradley is ready to step up and his wages would be a fraction of anything offered Trent to stay. That’s Edwardsball. Same applies to Mo. Of the three, Virgil is right now the most irreplaceable, but this next close-season will be the proper post-Klopp change of guard and most defining moment of Slot’s tenure. Winning the prem will buy him plenty of well deserved credit for the future too.”
I know what you mean, but if you take Slah out of this time, you’re losing its key factor. Vasn Dijk is good, but a goal and assist machine is almost irreplaceable.
25 min Wolves win a free-kick in centrefield and send men forward then look to spring behind Liverpool’s high line; they cannot, the ball easily cleared and flag up in any case.
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23 min Liverpool come down the left, Diaz’s cross intercepted by Toti, then joined ion his desperate lunging block by Agbadou, who blocks Jota’s shot while his mate takes a knee to the head. That should be good for blowing away cobwebs and reminding him he exists.
21 min Liverpool win another corner … and Jota is first to rise, but heads over the top.
20 min “TAA has already won the PL and Champions League with Liverpool, plus the Super Cup and the Club World Cup, plus the EFL Cup and FA Cup, writes Rick Harris. “He has nothing left to prove at Liverpool so it is a no-brainer to go to Real Madrid where he will grow as a person and have similar success to that which Ronaldo achieved.
Tangentially, an unpopular opinion: the best Ronaldo, was 06-07 Ronaldo, when he was still looking to go on the outside and have fun. After that, he became a relentless, remorseless accumulator, just as brilliant but less well-rounded and entertaining.
18 min On Sky, Jamie Carragher is back praising Van Dijk for averting the break, but really, Sarabia passed him the ball – he didn’t have to do anything, though I guess he was there. Just the other day, Carragher said they needed to invent a higher level of football for Van Dijk because he was so much better than everyone – yes, he really did. Brilliant player, of course, but one who’s done very well to be around at a time the standard of striker is relatively poor.
18 min Wolves thought they were going to play on the counter; instrad, they’ve been done by a counter.
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GOAL! Liverpool 1-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers (Diaz 16)
Liverpool go straight down the other end and score. Robertson feeds into Jota on halfway, who turns his man beautifully and feeds Diaz, who spreads crossfield to Salah. Salah’s touch, though, is poor – not words anyone ever supposed to type – Toti stretches to intercept, deflects the ball into the middle, and Diaz reaches it before Sa, bundling by the keeper and in.
Updated
15 min Robertson misjudges the path of a ball down the line and Sarabia has it, but his pace in behind is poor and Van Dijk tidies up.
13 min On which point, where do we rank Salah in the Premier League pantheon?
12 min Salah has been quiet so far, and I wonder if that’ll be more frequently the case than was – as he ages, he might lose a bit of dynamism, but his timing and finishing have years left.
10 min Luis Diaz could do with a big game today, his left-wing birth usurped by Gakpo. He can, though, make himself undroppable and beat Joto to the central-striking berth … but in the meantime, Liverpool have a second corner, Wolves getting first contact and Sa then claiming.
9 min Again, Wolves attack down the left, Cunha spreading to Ait-Nouri, and his cross is cleared, the marauding Toti unable to do anything with the loose ball.
8 min Liverpool move it from left to right, patiently working the opportunity, then Alexander-Arnold comes inside on his left foot, curling to the back post, but Doherty does well to head to the edge and from there, Jota shins wide.
7 min Szboszlai finds space down the left of the box, then digs out a cross, but Toti is there to head clear.
5 min The corner comes to nothing, but we can see how Wolves plan to hurt Liverpool – I’d expect to see versions of that pass hit all day, and if Ait-Nouri had gambled, setting off before it was dispatched, he might just’ve caught up with it.
4 min There it is: Sarabia swings a pass inside Alexander-Arnolds and out to the right, seeking Ait-Nouri. He can’t catch up with it, but a poor backpass has Alisson sliding … and he still can’t prevent the corner.
3 min Liverpool have started at pace. But when Wolves find Cunha wide and on halfway, he shows composure in possession to find Ait-Nouri, the ball goes backwards then out for a throw, and the visitors, back on the ball, will feel they’re in the game.
1 min Clever from Liverpool, the corner taken short by Robertson and moved across the box by Mac Allister, only for Alexander-Arnold to miscue a shot wide.
1 min Immediately, Liverpool get it forward, and a Slaha cross is blocked behind into the Kop, so the hosts have a corner after 10 seconds.
1 min Away we go!
“I’m not totally convinced by Liverpool either,” emails Karen Asad. “They’re just filling the void left by City’s fall in; a look at their players and all the contract talks show the future is rockier than it may seem. Champions League isn’t what it used to be either, so the real test there is yet to come. You know when they face Real Madrid!”
Madrid might not progress any further, but at the same time, City might be at their best when we get down to the biggest games. I don’t think that his season, Big Ears will be lifted by a side that’ll go down in history as one of the best, nor by a side we’re certain are Europe’s best; it’ll be whichever hits form at the right time, which is why this blip might suit Liverpool.
Our teams are tunnelled … and here they come!
From Wolverhampton near Molineux, Peter Higginson gets in touch: “Had the remains of a pork balti for lunch in anticipation of our win today at Anfield. Predict 2-1 win with both goals by Cunha. If I’m wrong I’m going to have another pork balti for tea as a punishment!”
Remains? Do you not like eating? Shame on you!
What would you do if you were Alexander-Arnold (for avoidance of doubt, I know you’re not):
1. Stop at Liverpool and be an eternal legend at your hometown club while winning trophies along the way.
2. Sign for Real Madrid, be a Real Madrid player, experience something new, make mega-money, and play with various of the generation’s greatest players.
On the one hand, it’s not easy; on the other, you can’t lose.
On telly, they’re talking about Emmanuel Agbadou, signed by Wolves from Rennes in January, and he looks a good player with all the attributes you’d want in a centre-back. Early days, and this’ll be a very different test for him; I’m looking forward to seeing how he handles it.
Vitor Pereira says his team have come to Anfield to compete and enjoy each minute of the game. Liverpool are very strong, but he wants his team to feel proud at the end of the game.
Email! “To misquote a certain football-loving French philosopher (according to Monty Python anyway),” writes Ian Copestake, “I wholly disagree with what you say about a blip in your context (and Spurs)-free preamble but will contend to the death for your right to say it.”
I may have addressed that apparent absence below.
So where is the game? I’m certain that Wolves, like every team facing Liverpool, will target the space in and around around and behind Alexander-Arnold who, for all his glorious passing and crossing, lack defensive nous and recovery pace. There could scarcely be a duo better-placed to exploit that than Ait-Nouri and Cunha while, on the other side, Semedo and Sarabia will also feel they can do something against the flagging Andy Robertson, especially on the counter.
Liverpool, meanwhile, will expect to outnumber Wolves in midfield, therefore dominating the ball, targeting the space behind the wing-backs with Jota scavenging in the box. And if all else fails, they can just give it Salah.
On Sky, Jamie Carragher has just referred to Liverpool’s performance in the second leg of League Cup semi as one of their best this season, which I guess unwittingly echoes the preamble. Spurs’ performance that night was one of the most spineless, supine subsidences it’s every been my amusement to watch, and as such, it’s difficult to say too much about Liverpool’s effort; they were allowed to do what they wanted by opposition apparently terrified by the simple fact of their existence.
Wolves, meanwhile, make one change to the side that won at Villa in their last league game: Joao Gomes was suspended for that one but returned to score at Blackburn in the Cup, and he replaces Jean-Ricner Bellegarde.
Back to Slot’s XI, It’s pretty solid. I do wonder if Bradley would’ve been a better option to combat Cunha than Alexander-Arnold, but I guess at home in particular, Slot wants the opposition to worry about him. Otherwise, I don’t suppose Nunez will be gratified to see Jota preferred to him – real talk, both are great subs but less good from the start – but it’s pretty hard for anyone to complain about anything the Liverpool manager does, given where they are.
But let’s wait a second because here’s Arne Slot, who says next time he hopes he’s a bit calmer when things don’t work out well and takes his time before talking the ref. However he also hopes his team take the anger and aggression he felt then and they’re feeling now into today; Wolves are also fighting for something, he adds, and the league is such that every you need a reaction in every game.
It’s been a while since Jota has started and they’ve brought him along slowly, but he’s an important player – though he also has Nunez, so has options. And though Vitor Pereira has said Wolves will attack, Slot says his team are ready to face man-to-man pressing all over the pitch, or a low block.
Two changes for Liverpool: Trent Alexander-Arnold and Diogo Jota come in, with Conor Bradley dropping to the bench; Cody Gakpo, in such great form, is injured.
Already under way:
I’ll write these down, then we’ll ponder what they might mean.
Let's have some teams...
Liverpool (4-2-3-1): Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Szoboszlai; Salah, Jota, Diaz. Subs: Kelleher, Endo, Nunez, Chiesa, Elliott, Tsimikas, McConnell, Quansah, Bradley.
Wolverhampton Wanderers (3-4-2-1): Sa; Doherty, Agbadou, Toti; Semedo, J.Gomes, Andre, Ait-Nouri; Sarabia, Cunha; Guedes. Subs: Bentley, Bueno, Munetsi, Traore, Doyle, Forbs, Bellegarde, Djiga, Lima.
Referee: Simon Hoooper and not Michael Oliver (Swindon)
Preamble
Defeat at PSV, defeat at Plymouth, a draw at Everton; Liverpool might just be enduring a blip that felt inevitable. But given Arne Slot’s men are in the last 16 of the Champions League, in the final of the League Cup, and sat four points clear at the top of the league with a game in hand, does it even matter?
Er, yes – but not in the way we might think. It feels fair to say that this is not, perhaps yet, a vintage Liverpool side: they are vulnerable down the sides, could use a centre-back to play next to Virgil van Dijk, and the midfield is good but not great. They may also be over-reliant on Mohamed Salah … except that’s unavoidable when you have a great player and irrelevant when he’s impervious to injury.
So with no domestic rival likely to make the title race into a serious contest, and no European rival even remotely convincing, a wobble now is to be welcomed. Though James Tarkowski’s midweek equaliser will have stung for reasons that have nothing to do with trophy accumulation, Liverpool have time and scope to ride out a slip in form, before rediscovering something better in time for the Premier League run-in and Champions League knockouts. They are set.
However there’s always a however so, however: Wolves are dangerous visitors. Matheus Cunha is in the middle of a superb season, a ridiculosity of power, imagination and execution able to seize matches nominally contested by 21 others and make them solely about him. He’ll fancy the occasion, he’ll really fancy the right side of Liverpool’s defence, and if his side return home with a result, maybe, just maybe, a blip could intensify into something altogether more arresting.
Kick-off: 2pm GMT
