The players all applaud the Kop, and then Jurgen Klopp goes over to punch the air a few times. It’s been a feelgood night for all connected with Liverpool.
Full time: Liverpool 4-0 Wolves
Peep peep! Liverpool move back to second in the table, behind Spurs on goal difference, after thrashing Wolves in front of 2,000 very happy supporters. Mo Salah, Gini Wijnaldum, Joel Matip and Nelsen Semedo got the goals, and there could have been more. Liverpool were not quite at their blistering best, the extraordinary Andy Robinson aside, yet they still battered a decent Wolves side 4-0.
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90+2 min “If a player stays on his feet after being fouled, can’t VAR just make the decision?” says Stephen Carr. “Otherwise the implied conclusion is that players have to make the most of contact otherwise it won’t get called.”
Yes, it should, but that isn’t happening at the moment.
90+1 min Salah shoots wide from inside the D. There will be three added minutes, it says here.
90 min I’ll have what Andy Robertson’s having. He is still charging round like it’s 0-0 in the Champions League final; he really is something.
89 min Joao Moutinho is booked for pulling back Mane.
87 min “We just need to accept that diving happens and it’s part of the modern game,” says Ben Limpasan. “Instead of focusing on that, it might be better to highlight and applaud the guys who tries their best to stay on their feet and fight through.”
The problem is that, as we saw with Ian Poveda-Ocampo at Chelsea last night, the players who do that don’t get the penalties they should.
85 min The match is starting to peter out. It’s been a very good night for Liverpool - not just the margin of victory, but the return of Alexander-Arnold and Keita and the calm performance of Kelleher.
81 min Naby Keita returns to action in place of Jordan Henderson.
80 min Ait-Nouri’s shot from a tight angle is smartly saved by Kelleher. Moments later, Traore drives well wide of the far post. Kelleher has had a perfect night.
79 min Pedro Neto is replaced by Vitinha.
GOAL! Liverpool 4-0 Wolves (Semedo own goal 78)
It’s a rout. The substitute Alexander-Arnold puts in a devastating low cross towards the far post, where Mane and the sliding Semedo go for the ball at the same time. The ball hits them both, then hits Semedo again and dribbles into the net.
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77 min Liverpool have now won 31 of their last 32 league games at home. They’re animals.
76 min “The whole idea of ‘assumption of contact’ conjures up the idea of.... ‘well, it was SURELY on his mind’,” says A. “Shouldn’t this on-field, physical endeavour be governed by what happens on the field (pitch) as opposed to what someone believes another was going to do or was thinking?”
Maybe. Maybe not.
75 min Curtis Jones hits a sweet rising drive with his left-footed shot that is patted down by Rui Patricio and grabbed at the second attempt.
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74 min “Please get Robertson off right now,” says Rick McGahey. “3-0, he needs time off the pitch.”
Does he heck. He’s already agreed to do a Tough Mudder 10k when he gets home.
73 min Roberto Firmino, who played nicely, is replaced by the former Wolves player Diogo Jota.
72 min “What’s so funny ‘bout peace, love, and sustainable footwear?” wonders Alan Webb.
71 min Daniel Podence is replaced by Rayan Ait-Nouri. I think Wolves have made the sensible decision to declare at 0-3.
70 min Salah makes Marcal and Coady look silly with some beautiful footwork. He goes down after running into Coady; no penalty.
70 min Dendoncker’s header is saved comfortably by Kelleher.
68 min A very popular substitution for Liverpool: the returning Trent Alexander-Arnold replaces Neco Williams.
It was a simple goal. Henderson took a right-wing corner short to Salah, who moved to the edge of the area and floated a beautiful ball towards the far post. Matip got between two Wolves defenders and headed home from four yards.
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GOAL! Liverpool 3-0 Wolves (Matip 67)
Joel Matip makes it three!
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66 min “Handwoven, free-range mung-bean clogs Rob,” says Stephen Carr. “Certified Guardian friendly.”
Come in, my child.
65 min Williams is down after a late tackle from Traore. It’s just an impact injury so he should be fine.
64 min Liverpool are nowhere near their awesome best, but they have enough fire, enough skill and enough aura to get the job done most of the time. I still think they will win the league by 10+ points.
62 min A Wolves change: the teenager Fabio Silva replaces Ruben Neves, which means a switch to 4-2-3-1.
61 min “I have no problem with the argument that Liverpool had with the officials on that penalty call,” says Mary Waltz. “But the outrage by any fan of any team about diving is out of bounds. There are multiple incidents of diving to draw a foul or penalty in virtually every fixture by every team. Some, Neymar for example, are more dramatic then others but the tactic is universal. I don’t like it but denying the reality that it happens every match is laughable.”
59 min “We are awful Rob,” says Stephen Carr. “Bill Hicks said it best – ‘I’m tired of this back-slappin’ “isn’t humanity neat” bullshit. We’re a virus with shoes.’”
Fairtrade shoes, though, right? If not, that might be problematic.
Liverpool shredded Wolves on the counter-attack. Henderson lobbed a long pass forward to Wijnaldum, who ran at the backpedalling Coady and shaped a beautiful shot into the top corner from 20 yards. Rui Patricio had no chance.
GOAL! Liverpool 2-0 Wolves (Wijnaldum 58)
Gini Wijnaldum seals victory with a blistering goal!
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58 min: Great defending from Fabinho! The second corner was played short to Traore, who curled a dangerous ball behind the outrushing Liverpool defence. Coady took it down on the chest and was about to shoot when Fabinho (I think) appeared to boot the ball to safety.
57 min Traore, who has switched to the left, wins a corner off Williams. It’s played short and driven to the far post, where Kelleher flaps it behind for another corner. He played it safe, and rightly so.
55 min “As soothingly nostalgic as it is to hear Tyldesley and McCoist enjoying a good-natured chuckle in the commentary box, has their standard of chat devolved into a parody of itself?” asks Antony Sheffield.
I’ve really enjoyed it personally. McCoist and Jon Champion are the gold standard, but he works well with Tyldesley too. There’s been plenty of insight in between the sideways glances; the best of both worlds.
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54 min “Hi Rob,” says Mike MacKenzie. “Kevin Smith’s friends are right about Kelleher’s name, I think ... I thought the middle ‘e’ was missing in the first half but it appears to be there now! Shirt change at HT?”
The wonders of 3D printing.
53 min Robertson charges into the area and wins another corner. Even by his standards, he is having a barnstorming game.
52 min Mane misses an excellent chance, sidefooting well wide from Robertson’s precise cross. Liverpool are well on top.
50 min Semedo’s long cross is well held by the stretching Kelleher. He’s had a really good night, though Wolves haven’t tested him as much as they should have done.
49 min “Evening Rob,” says Stephen Carr. “I thought I’d wade into the diving debate that’s underway. I’m always surprised how it’s perceived as being somehow worse than a foul. We seem to accept, for example, ‘taking a yellow for the team’ by stopping a counter-attack with a foul yet diving is deemed to be an appalling act of duplicity.”
Whereas trying to break someone’s legs is just banter. It’s all a load of nonsense. We’re an awful species.
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48 min There’s a break in play because of a problem with the referee’s technology.
47 min Henderson’s long pass to the edge of the Wolves area is pulled down brilliantly on the stretch by Mane. He waits for it to bounce and slaps a shot that is saved comfortably by Rui Patricio.
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46 min Peep peep! Liverpool begin the second half.
“I’m not watching at the moment but friends are telling me that Kelleher’s name on the back of his kit is actually spelt ‘Kellher’,” says Kevin Smith. “Can you confirm this for myself and other MBM readers?”
If he ever turns round, I’ll let you know.
“Sorry, but there is nothing for Coady to argue here (e.g. that he anticipated contact, as you wrote),” says Oliver. “That’s a dive as blatant as they come and it beats me how he was not booked. One imagines what would have happened, if a certain Egyptian (or players from Portugal, Spain etc) would have done this.”
There’s no need to apologise; you’re entitled to an opinion. The more I see it the more I think it was a dive, but it was still based on the assumption of contact. Besides, all footballers dive so I don’t really understand the disproportionate opprobrium towards Coady. Fabinho, in particular, was sneering at Coady as if he’d never seen a player dive in his life.
Half-time chitchat
“Many football clubs do excellent work in the communities from which they draw their fans - Everton In The Community is often cited as an exemplar,” says Gary Naylor. “Perhaps clubs can draw on such groups’ advice and contacts to show that not only do Black Lives Matter, but Black Fans Matter too. Random ballots of season ticket holders are producing crowds that, predictably, lack diversity (visually at least) lending a whiff of hypocrisy to the pre-kick off gesture. Clubs need to be more imaginative and strategic in the allocation of scarce tickets.”
This is an excellent point, and I’ve nothing much to add really. There is so much that needs to be done.
“Why no caution for simulation to Coady?” asks Richard McGahey.
I don’t think you can show yellow cards when an incident is checked by VAR. Also, I’m not sure it was a dive so much as a reflex because he thought he was about to be kicked by Mane. Only Conor Coady will know for sure. Well, him and 40,000 people on Twitter.
Half time: Liverpool 1-0 Wolves
Peep peep! Liverpool lead through a ruthless finish from Mo Salah, who took advantage of a rare mistake from Conor Coady. It was a pretty miserable half for Coady against his old club: Wolves won a penalty when he went down after a challenge from Sadio Mane, but it was overturned by VAR.
45+1 min Well that was fun.
NO PENALTY! That’s the right decision, I think, though Coady will argue he fell because he anticipated contact.
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Coady anticipated the contact and went down. Liverpool got a penalty like at Sheffield United on the opening day of the 2006-07 season, but I think this will be reversed.
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This might be overturned. Mane pulled his foot away at the last minute and I’m not sure he made contact.
Liverpool are utterly fuming about this. There was a game of head tennis in the area, until Coady nipped in front of Mane and went down. The Liverpool players accuse him of diving. It’s hard to see whether there was contact or not, and it’s being checked by VAR.
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PENALTY TO WOLVES!
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42 min Neto is fouled just outside the area on the left by Matip...
41 min Moutinho’s cross is headed away by Matip to Firmino, who waits for the ball to bounce and scissor-kicks a spectacular long pass out to Mane on the left. Nothing comes of it but it was the most brilliant pass.
40 min Mane’s long-range shot smacks Boly in the face. He stays on his feet, impressively enough.
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38 min Jones looks okay to continue.
37 min Dendoncker shoots well wide from long range. Curtis Jones is down with what looks like a hip or side injury.
35 min Salah’s curling free-kick is comfortably held by Rui Patricio.
35 min Wolves are hanging on a wee bit. Mane is fouled 25 yards from goal by Boly. The free-kick is jsut to the left of centre, with Henderson, Salah and Fabinho over the ball.
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33 min Henderson, in a deepish position on the right, curls a brilliant cross that bounces up at the near post and is headed wide by Mane. Semedo tracked him well, so it was only a half chance, but it was a stunning ball in from Henderson.
33 min At the other end, Neto beats Williams in the area and lifts a cross that is confidently held at the near post by Kelleher. He’s had a flawless start.
32 min Liverpool are well on top. Mane plays a slick one-two with Wijnaldum, who crosses low towards the near post. Firmino tries to flick the ball behind his standing leg towards goal but it’s blocked by Coady (I think).
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31 min Wolves break dangerously through Podence, who is coolly dispossessed on the edge of the area by Fabinho.
30 min There’s a wonderful noise at Anfield. Makes you wonder how loud English football grounds would be if everybody sang when the stadiums were completely full.
28 min Wolves were the better team until the goal, but Liverpool are threatening to take control now. The goal has winded Wolves.
Henderson lofted a routine pass towards the edge of the Wolves area, where the backpedalling Coady tried to chest it down to Boly. Salah was in, quick as a flash, to nick the ball away and rifle it past Rui Patricio. What a clinical finish. Coady looks pretty devastated to have made a mistake like that against his old club.
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GOAL! Liverpool 1-0 Wolves (Salah 24)
Liverpool take the lead after a mistake from Conor Coady!
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20 min Wolves are looking really dangerous on the break. Semedo finds Traore in space, which allows him to run at Fabinho. He beats him with ease, moves into the area and hammers a cross that just evades Neto at the far post. The run was brilliant, the cross just too heavy.
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17 min: Good save from Kelleher! Traore finds Podence on the edge of the area, slightly to the right of centre. He floats a delicious no-look chip towards the far corner, but Kelleher moves smartly across his line and leaps to fingertip the ball behind. That’ll give him plenty of confidence.
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14 min Wolves are playing with a lot of confidence. Neves booms a lovely pass out to Traore, who beats Robertson and stands up a cross that is headed away by Matip.
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13 min Jones is a bit lucky not to be booked for pulling back Traore.
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12 min Robertson hammers a cross towards Mane, who flicks a header over the bar from 10 yards. It was slightly behind him.
10 min Wolves have had a relatively comfortable start to the game. Neto, in particular, is seeing a lot of the ball.
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7 min The corner is cleared and Liverpool break at pace. Curtis Jones runs 50 yards into the Wolves area, but he’s held up really well by Semedo and Wolves are able to get numbers back.
6 min Traore wins a corner off Robertson. Those two had a spectacular duel at Molineux last season, so that should be good fun tonight.
5 min “Opening the match coverage in Amazon Prime gives a warning that the following program may contain ‘Mature themes’,” says Matt Dony. “Not sure what they’re expecting to happen, but I’m looking forward to finding out...”
It’s high time we moved on from this vanilla football culture.
4 min I take it back - Wolves are playing a back four.
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4 min Neves hammers the free-kick onto the roof of the net. Not a bad idea, to test Kelleher early on, but he got a bit too much on it.
3 min Neto is fouled just outside the penalty box by Neco Williams, who is booked. The free-kick is 20 yards from goal, in line with the left edge of the area.
2 min Liverpool win an early corner, which is headed away by Coady. Wolves are playing with a back three/five, not the 4-3-3 we expected.
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1 min Peep peep! Wolves kick off from left to right. They’re wearing their white and bleurgh away strip due to a clash between their usual gold shirt and Liverpool’s red.
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The Liverpool players receive a rousing ovation from the 2,000 fans at Anfield. Jurgen Klopp has a big dumb smile on his face as he looks around the ground.
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“Wolves away to L’pool?” muses Kevin Porter. “Best I’m not there. I have visited Anfield on seven occasions to watch my Old Gold favourites and I’ve yet to see us score a goal. I even missed the sensational Steve Mardenborough match – though no doubt scoring via your shoulder would be not be judged VAR-compliant these days.”
That would be allowed, I think, but you make a valid point: that egregious fiasco hasn’t only ruined modern football, it’s also starting to damage the past. I tried to unwind the other night by watching the full 90 minutes of an old classic, Como 0-0 Atalanta from December 1984, but I was constantly distracted by thoughts of where VAR would get busy. I mean, sure, that off-the-ball elbow knocked four front teeth clean out, but can you really be sure it was a clear and obvious error?
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Here’s more on Spurs’ win over Arsenal, which puts them top of the table again. They go to Anfield a week on Wednesday.
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“Curtis Jones quickly becoming a regular starter for Liverpool,” says Robert Lin, “although I suspect it would be a little different if Thiago was fit. England call-up next? Not sure how Southgate would fit him in his 3-4-3 though.”
It feels a bit early for that to me, though I don’t doubt he’ll play for England.
Liverpool start the game in fourth after wins today for Leicester and Spurs, who did a predictable number on Arsenal. If Liverpool win they will go second; if Wolves win they will move from tenth to fifth, and cruelly steal Christian Benteke’s thunder.
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Team news
Diogo Jota suffers the rotation blues against his old club; he is only on the Liverpool bench. He is joined there by the returning Trent Alexander-Arnold, while Caiomhin Kelleher makes his Premier League debut in goal.
Wolves haven’t directly replaced Raul Jimenez, who fractured his skull against Arsenal last weekend. Ruben Neves comes into the starting XI, which suggests a switch from 4-2-3-1 to 4-3-3, probably with Daniel Podence as a false nine.
Liverpool (4-3-3) Kelleher; N Williams, Matip, Fabinho, Robertson; Jones, Henderson, Wijnaldum; Salah, Firmino, Mane.
Substitutes: Adrian, Tsimikas, Phillips, Alexander-Arnold, Keita, Minamino, Jota.
Wolves (4-3-3) Rui Patricio; Semedo, Boly, Coady, Marcal; Dendoncker, Neves, Moutinho; Traore, Podence, Neto.
Substitutes: Ruddy, Hoever, Ait-Nouri, Kilman, Vitinha, Saiss, Fabio Silva.
Referee Craig Pawson.
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Preamble
Hello. Christian Benteke scored twice today. The last time that happened in a league match was 23 April 2017, when his two goals gave Crystal Palace an unlikely victory at Anfield. That was also the last time Liverpool lost a Premier League game at home. It might be an omen; more likely is that it’s a sign of how stiff a task Wolves face tonight.
Liverpool have won 53 and drawn 11 since that last defeat - but even that doesn’t tell the full story. Since February 2019 they have all but abolished the home draw, never mind the home defeat: their record is P31 W30 D1 L0 F89 A25. In the long history of English football, there may never have been a tougher place to visit than Anfield right now. Wolves are a dangerous team, built to play on the counter-attack, but this is the ultimate test.
Kick off 7.15pm.
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