Liverpool 2 (Gravenberch 41, Wirtz 42) Wolves 1 (S Bueno 51)
Not for the first time under Rob Edwards, Wolves went away from home and felt they deserved something at Liverpool on Saturday, but came away narrowly beaten 2-1.
A tight opening half, where the Old Gold held their own, was undone in three minutes, as Ryan Gravenberch and Florian Wirtz struck to put the home side in the driving seat.
Wolves rallied however, and when Santiago Bueno converted the rebound after Tolu Arokodare’s shot was parried, it was game on. The Old Gold pushed and had chances to earn a point, but the hosts held on to leave Wolves still winless.
For 41 of the 25 first-half minutes, Edwards will have been delighted with what he saw from his side at Anfield, but two quickfire Liverpool goals perhaps reminded him of the reason Wolves found themselves at the foot of the table at Christmas.
After 11 tight minutes, Liverpool did strike the first warning sign when Wirtz slipped him Hugo Ekitike through and he scuffed a shot between Yerson Mosquera and Santiago Bueno but watched the ball bounce back off the foot of the post.
Mateus Mane was handed his full Wolves debut on Merseyside, and he was the Old Gold’s biggest threat in the first-half. Having held off Curtis Jones, he fired a low effort which Alisson needed to get down low to save.
Jose Sa has returned to the side of last and he then brilliantly tipped Alexis Mac Allister’s shot on to the top, with Federico Chiesa in an offside position ahead of him, making it an even better save.
Mane was again a threat at the other end, however. When Arokodare showed good holdup play, Mane had space to run into, and after taking it on himself instead of returning the pass, the youngster rifled a shot just over the bar.
It was with five minutes of the half left when Liverpool took the lead. Jeremie Frimpong got round the outside of Hugo Bueno and when his low ball came in, Andre lost his footing, allowing Gravenberch to whip a low and clinical strike into the bottom corner.
Crucially for the game however, they weren’t done there, and straight after the restart it was two. Ekitike turned past Andre and Wolves were exposed. He slipped in Wirtz who stabbed under Sa to double his side’s lead.
Half-time | Liverpool 2-0 Wolves
While the first half ended disastrously, Wolves didn’t buckle and within seven minutes of the restart they were back in the game. Andre’s corner was on the money for Arokodare, and although Alisson parried the first header, Santiago Bueno was on hand to knock the rebound into the open net.
The second half from there was on a knife edge. Mac Allister fizzed a low shot wide for the hosts, before Mane passed up options to feed either striker, with Jorgen Strand Larsen now on, and saw his effort saved low by Alisson.
The best chance arrived when Joao Gomes found Jackson Tchatchoua on the right and his cross found an unmarked Arokodare in the middle, but he couldn’t keep his header on target.
Jhon Arias also thought he was set to equaliser, when eyeing up Strand Larsen’s low cross, but Conor Bradley crucially slid in to clear within the six-yard box. Wolves pushed until the final kick, but couldn’t find the quality to earn what would have been a deserved point on Merseyside.
Full-time | Liverpool 2-1 Wolves
Liverpool | Alisson, Frimpong, Konate, van Dijk, Kerkez, Mac Allister, Gravenberch, Jones, Chiesa (Bradley 61), Wirtz (Nyoni 90), Ekitike (Gakpo 86).
Unused subs | Mamardashvili, Woodman, Robertson, Nyoni, Ramsay, Ngumoha, Lucky.
Wolves | Sa, Doherty (Tchatchoua 62), Mosquera (Arias 79), S Bueno, Krejci, H Bueno (Wolfe 62), J Gomes, Andre, Mane, Hwang (Strand Larsen 62), Arokodare.
Unused subs | Johnstone, Hoever, Lopez, Gonzalez, Rawlings.
