Nuno is less than happy.
Right, that’s it from me. Thanks for all the emails. As a reward, here’s Paul Wilson’s match report from Anfield:
Here’s Virgil van Dijk talking to Sky: “It was always going to be difficult against them – they’re a fantastic side.”
And here’s Sadio Mane on his VAR-delayed goal: “I was not panicked. I knew it was a goal.”
Van Dijk, by the way, says he can’t remember if he handballed early in the buildup to Liverpool’s goal. A few replays suggest the ball may have brushed his arm as he controlled it.
As for Wolves, they’ll feel aggrieved by the offside decision that ruled out their “goal” in the first half and they had a flurry of half-chances late on, at least one of which they really needed to take advantage of.
So far from a vintage Liverpool performance but just about good enough to see off a much-changed Wolves lineup. At the halfway stage of the season, Klopp’s side have won 18 of 19 games, drawing the other. It’s a quite extraordinary effort.
Full-time: Liverpool 1-0 Wolves
Peep! PEEP!! PEEEEEEP!!! Van Dijk gets his head to the corner, nods it away and that is that. Liverpool go 13 points clear at the summit.
90+4 min: Traore shimmies into space and shoots from 20 yards out – deflected – corner …
90+3 min: Moutinho ponders a spectacular effort from 30-odd yards out but instead opts to pop the ball over the back four and out for a goal kick.
90+2 min: Vinagre gets on the end of another lofted pass, Alexander-Arnold tripping over his legs as he chase, but the wing-back blasts the ball high and wide.
90 min: A minimum of four minutes of added time to be played.
89 min: Again the ball is worked really well by Wolves down the left. Jimenez lays the ball back to the edge of the box but once more the effort disappears high into the stands, with Saiss the guilty man this time. Liverpool are hanging on a bit here.
88 min: Chance! Traore takes down a cross-field ball and chips his cross to the back post. Neto nods down smartly for Moutinho on the edge of the box … but he larrups his volley miles over the bar.
87 min: Robertson crosses low across the face of goal but there’s no red shirt on the end of it.
86 min: Liverpool make changes. Wijnaldum off, Milner on. And Firmino is replaced by Origi.
85 min: Neat buildup play from Liverpool and Robertson curls a cross in from the angle but it curls into the arms of Patricio.
83 min: Jimenez uses his strength to hold off Alexander-Arnold and brings down a long ball before swatting his shot over the bar. Probably for the best – he might have used his arm to control the ball and there was a hint of a toe offside.
82 min: Milner is preparing to come on for Liverpool as Wolves look to apply some pressure.
79 min: Traore looks for a trademark barrelling run across the Liverpool box but is loose with his control and all of a sudden Liverpool have a four on three break. Firmino’s pass to Salah, though, is not quite good enough and the Egyptian can’t bring the ball properly under his spell. A bit of a let-off for Wolves that.
Liverpool’s Egyptian midfielder Mohamed Salah runs onto a through-ball. Photograph: Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images
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77 min: Liverpool have the ball exactly where they want it, deep in Wolves territory. They’ve been in fairly complete control since that Van Dijk error.
75 min: Kilman takes a whack and there’s a moment of worry for Wolves, who have used all their subs. He looks OK to hobble on though.
73 min: Traore smartly works some space on the right and looks to clip a cross in with his left but it’s overhit and out for a goal kick.
72 min: Raul Jimenez enters the fray, with Jota the man to make way.
71 min: Pass, pass, pass from Liverpool. Pass, passpasspasspass.
70 min: OK into the last 20 minutes. No more VAR chat. There’s a game on here and Wolves are by no means out of it.
67 min: Alisson gets Van Dijk off the hook with a decent save from Jota, who had just pickpocketed the Dutch defender as he looked to bring the ball out. From the corner, Saiss heads wide.
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66 min: Liverpool make their first change: Keïta comes on for Lallana, who had a pretty bright game.
64 min: Jonny gets back to nick the ball of Mané’s toe as the Liverpool man prepares to strike at goal. The Kop howls for a penalty but it was a flop of hope rather than expectation from Mané.
63 min: “In one sense I’m disappointed the offside goal wasn’t given, but once you allow technology in at all, there’s no way you can allow ‘slightly wrong’ decisions to stand and only overturn ‘downright out of order’ decisions,” writes Nick Parish, who is correct. “You have to get all decisions right. So the only alternative is not to allow VAR at all, which means allowing wrong decisions that could have been corrected. I’m not sure there’s an optimal outcome, although making VAR decisions quicker would certainly be a start.”
61 min: Firmino turns on a sixpence on the edge of the box, but his half volley is well over the bar.
Updated
60 min: Traore gets his first chance to run with the ball but Lallana is quickly on the scene to end the break.
58 min: Wolves subs: Dendoncker off, Traore on. Neves off, Saiss on. Nuno rolls the dice.
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57 min: Neto works himself some space just outside the box but can’t direct his effort on target.
56 min: Jota chests down at the back post and flashes a shot across goal and narrowly wide. The linesman flag was up but what does that really mean any more?
54 min: Another corner for Liverpool, another Wolves clearance. For all Alexander-Arnold’s quality, his set piece delivery hasn’t been great today.
52 min: Wijnaldum climbs highest but his header flicks off a defender. Another corner … but Wolves stand firm and Robertson hoofs the ball out for a goal kick.
51 min: Alexander-Arnold whips in a dangerous cross and forces a corner …
48 min: “I’m not sure the offside lunacy can be fixed once you get into the world of freeze frames,” writes Tom Hopkins. “It seems like we’ve dived into VAR like we dive into all new technology - because the people touting it told us it was inevitable and without any consideration of unintended consequences. Might be an idea to stop doing that?”
You mean they were so obsessed with whether they could that they didn’t stop to think whether they should? I do think if they’re going to stick with it we need some sort of rule change where the benefit goes to the attacker in situations where it’s so close to level that there’s clearly no real world advantage. But, once you start unpicking it …
46 min: Moutinho bobbles a volley at goal as Wolves start the second period on the front foot.
Peep! Off we go again.
For anyone who hasn’t seen the offside, here’s a screengrab:
Today in Premier League offside. We're told the lines are usually thickened to be clearer on broadcasts so it's unclear what the original geometry produced at VAR HQ pic.twitter.com/nEuIYclnoJ
— Rob Harris (@RobHarris) December 29, 2019
The offside? Well, we can rehash all the arguments from yesterday and on multiple weekends throughout the season. For me, that’s not offside in any version of the game I want to watch. Rather than make the whole spectacle slicker and smarter, offside VAR has introduced a new level of stupidity to the game.
So shall we dissect those decisions?
The Liverpool goal? I guess a positive use of VAR – an incorrect refereeing decision was corrected by the technology. The problem is the delay – which was far, far, far too long – and the fact that it was fortuitous that Taylor had not blown his whistle before the ball crossed the line. If he’d blown half a second earlier VAR wouldn’t have been able to fix the decision. So do referees now need to officiate on a three-second delay?
Half-time: Liverpool 1-0 Wolves
Well, well, well. A very eventful end to a half that at times drifted along a little sleepily. And again it’s VAR in the spotlight. Joy.
NO GOAL!
Remember all those pointlessly close VAR offside calls yesterday? This is another. Jonny had a toe offside in the buildup. Nuno is predictably furious (and picked up a booking before that decision even came through).
Updated
GOAL? Liverpool 1-1 Wolves (Neto 45+3)
Or is it? Neto sweeps home but there could be one of those offside calls.
45+2 min: Moutinho takes it short and makes a right old pig’s ear of it. He’s a little fortunate to win another which is this time swung in and cleared.
45 min: Lallana gets a booking and Neves gets to line up a dangerous free-kick … which is deflected away for a corner.
44 min: Lallana flicked on Van Dijk’s long pass and Mané swept home just as Taylor blew his whistle. Apparently over at Stockley Park they were looking both at the handball decision and whether the referee had blown the whistle before the ball had crossed the line (which he apparently had not).
GOAL! Liverpool 1-0 Wolves (Mané 43)
And it’s given! I think it’s probably the right decision.
Updated
42 min: It does look like it came off Lallana’s shoulder to me …
41 min: Mané has the ball in the net but the referee Anthony Taylor blows for handball against Lallana – VAR is having a look and I think this might end up being given. Let’s see.
Updated
40 min: Wolves have grown into this a touch – Liverpool haven’t really created anything for 10 minutes or so.
39 min: Jonny skitters into the box onto the end of Dendoncker’s pass but the Liverpool defence cope with his cross with little fuss.
37 min: Vinagre horribly misjudges Van Dijk’s diagonal ball but Alexander-Arnold’s cross (with his left this time) is miserably miscued.
35 min: Jota does brilliantly down the Wolves left to get his team on the front foot. He pulls the ball back to Neto but again the support just isn’t there and the attack breaks down.
33 min: Neves and Lallana collide in midfield, the Wolves man taking a painful whack in the lower ribs. He’ll be OK to continue though.
31 min: … which is met by Firmino and nodded just wide. I’m not much of an xG expert but I imagine Liverpool are hovering around “Some” while Wolves are very much sitting on “None”.
30 min: Liverpool get a lucky bobble over on the right, Henderson feeds Mané and it takes a good block from Bennett to deny him. Corner …
Updated
28 min: Mane just fails to get on the end of another sumptuous Trent Alexander-Arnold cross.
26 min: A bit of a lull.
25 min: Wolves are really lacking a presence up front – fair to day that Jimenez is being missed at the moment.
23 min: A lovely turn from Firmino in the box but he can’t find Mané with his pass.
22 min: A bit of 80s Wimbledon vintage from Liverpool: Van Dijk pings a long ball onto the head of Mané. He nods down to Salah, who connects well with his volley but it’s straight at Patricio.
20 min: Jota does well to hold up the ball in the Liverpool area but the visitors are struggling to get numbers forward.
19 min: A Wolves attack founders and Salah slaloms away with defenders trying to keep pace. He squares to Firmino, who cuts inside but his effort is deflected into the grateful hands of Rui Patricio.
17 min: Firmino seems to be playing a little deeper than usual with Salah and Mane narrower and further forward than usual.
15 min: Salah pressures Vinagre into conceding a corner. It’s taken quickly and drops very nicely to Wijnaldum, but the Dutch midfielder hammers his effort well over the bar. Decent chance that.
14 min: Vinagre gets in the way of Lallana’s cross as he and Salah look to create something down the right again.
12 min: Salah gets in behind after a one-two with Lallana and Wolves bodies are flung in the way as he skitters across and attempts to shoot. The flag is up anyway and Wolves get the chance to clear.
Updated
10 min: Already there’s that sense that it’s not if but when for Liverpool. Though in fairness that Salah chance is all they really have to show for the opening 10 minutes.
8 min: The corner comes to nought.
7 min: Neto gets his foot on the ball for the first time and looks to run past Gomez. The defender gets across but can only concede a corner …
5 min: Alexander-Arnold’s ball forward is nodded away by Coady, who came through at Anfield before heading off in search of first-team football.
4 min: It should be 1-0! Alexander-Arnold is fed by Lallana on the right. He has oceans of space and crosses low to Salah, who diverts the ball over the bar from close range.
Updated
2 min: Salah gets some space on the left of the Wolves box and dinks a cross towards the back post. Alexander-Arnold, thundering in, makes a decent contact but it’s straight into the nearest defender. Confident start from the home side, though, as you’d expect.
1 min: “Champions of the world!” sing the home fans as the Liverpool back four stroke the ball between them.
PEEP! Off we go then, Wolves kicking towards the Kop in the firs half. By the by, the visitors have had to make a late change on the bench: Cutrone is ill so 21-year-old Danish defender Oskar Buur is among the subs in his stead.
Handshakes all round and we’re about to get under way.
Click-clack, click-clack … the players are in the tunnel, Liverpool with their new golden World Club Champions badge proudly on their chests.
Here’s some pre-match managerial thoughts on the lineups:
Jurgen Klopp: “We thought about changes but it was not really possible. Shaq would have started but he was not available.”
Nuno on the four changes he has made: “No matter who is inside the pitch we are always confident we can compete with the best.”
History is against an upset this afternoon:
15 - Wolves have lost 15 of their last 17 top-flight away games against Liverpool, winning the other two - 1-0 in January 1984 and December 2010. Wolves have failed to score in 10 of their last 14 league visits to Anfield. Undesirable. pic.twitter.com/h4ZKzERfpt
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 29, 2019
Chelsea’s late comeback win over Arsenal is a bit of a blow for Wolves – had the score stayed as it was at 82 minutes Nuno’s team could’ve gone fourth with an unlikely victory this evening.
Some pre-match reading:
And, nothing to do with this game, but I want also to draw your attention to David Hills’s brilliant alternative sports awards:
The teams
Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson, Henderson, Wijnaldum, Lallana, Salah, Firmino, Mane. Subs: Adrian, Milner, Keita, Origi, Jones, Elliott, Williams.
Wolves: Patricio; Bennett, Coady, Kilman; Jonny, Neves, Dendoncker, Moutinho, Vinagre; Jota, Neto. Subs: Ruddy, Doherty, Jimenez, Cutrone, Saiss, Traore, Otasowie.
So it looks like four changes and 3-5-2 for Wolves.
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Preamble
Hello all. And welcome to coverage of an awkward junction on Liverpool’s not-particularly-busy four-lane motorway to the title. But such is Liverpool’s lead now at the top of the table that the championship almost isn’t the issue any more.
Can Jurgen Klopp’s side can they go through the season unbeaten? Can they set a record points tally? And, this afternoon, can Wolves take a step towards crashing the Champions League party?
Kick off is 4.30pm GMT and the team news is so close you can almost touch it.
