Looking to extend their three-game winning streak ahead of Thursday’s trip to LASK, Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool ventured to Molineux on Saturday. With the lunchtime kickoff slot proving difficult for the Reds last season, the visitors would seek to put an end to their misfortunes by registering a win against a struggling Wolves side.
WOL: Sá; Aït-Nouri, Kilman, Dawson, Semedo; Lemina, Gomes; Neto, Bellegarde, Hwang; Cunha
LIV: Alisson; Robertson, Quansah, Matip, Gomez; Jones, Mac Allister, Szoboszlai; Jota, Gakpo, Salah
The hosts enjoyed a positive start to the match at Molineux, with Jean-Ricner Bellegarde and Pedro Neto proving to be bright sparks for the home side. The latter was the creator for the Wolves opener, jinking past three Liverpool defenders before crossing for Hwang Hee-chan – and the South Korean made no mistake with a convincing finish past Alisson.
Liverpool had failed to impress throughout the opening half, trailing at the interval – but three changes before the hour mark allowed Jurgen Klopp’s side an opportunity to restore parity. Just ninety seconds after his introduction, Luis Diaz sent a header wide of the post from Andy Robertson’s cross.
The equaliser finally arrived in the 55th minute, as Cody Gakpo latched onto the end of Mohamed Salah’s cross to dispatch a tame effort past Jose Sá. Liverpool would be left to rue missed chances though, as Darwin Núñez could only watch in despair as his bid to hand the visitors the lead was blocked well by the home defence.
Euphoric scenes could finally take place in the away end when Andy Robertson struck gold with five minutes of regulation time left to play. Darting onto the end of Mohamed Salah’s pass, the deputy captain poked home from six yards out to all-but-secure the victory for the visitors.
Harvey Elliott sought to extend the buffer in stoppage time with the youngster finding the back of the net, though the goal will be credited as a Hugo Bueno mistake following a deflection.
Yet despite suffering his fourth defeat of the season, Gary O’Neil will be pleased with a largely positive showing from his Wolves side. Having kept Liverpool at bay for the first half, the midfield proved to be a great strength for the Wolverhampton-based club – and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde impressed on his debut.
Liverpool briefly move to the top of the Premier League table ahead of the upcoming 3pm kickoffs, and they’ll look to continue their unbeaten start to the season as they host West Ham at Anfield next Sunday. But first, Jurgen Klopp’s men must travel to the Austrian city of Linz, where they will face LASK on Thursday.
For Wolverhampton, they find themselves involved in an early six-pointer as they travel to Luton Town’s Kenilworth Road next Saturday. The Hatters have failed to register a point thus far this season.
