Liverpool made easy work of Wolverhampton Wanderers at Anfield in the 11th round of the Premier League on Sunday evening. Mohamed Salah opened the scoring in the 24th minute, Georginio Wijnaldum scored his first goal of the season in the 58th, Joel Matip headed in the third in the 67th, and Nelson Semedo diverted low cross from Trent Alexander-Arnold past his own goalkeeper in the 78th to set the final score at 4-0.
Champions stay calm through turbulence
Liverpool are weathering the storm that s perhaps the best way to describe the way the Reds title defence has been going. There have been shaky moments and questionable performances not least in that 7-2 defeat away to Aston Villa in early October as well as notable player absences through injuries, but they simply haven t allowed that set of factors to have too much of a detrimental impact on their campaign.
Jurgen Klopp s side have secured passage to the knockout stages of the Champions League from the Group D top spot and that with a game to spare, and they re tied on points with Premier League leaders Tottenham Hotspur at the moment, second to the team from north London on goal-difference. On top of it all, Liverpool are now undefeated in 65 consecutive league games at Anfield, a run stretching over three and a half years.
A remarkable feat altogether, and as former Manchester United defender Gary Neville recently pointed out, the prospect of a number of Liverpool players returning from injuries in the near future on top of it all should be a frightening one for their rivals.
Kelleher moves up the ladder
With Alisson Becker, the undisputed first-choice goalkeeper under Klopp, out with a hamstring problem, the German tactician chose to put 22-year-old Caoimhin Kelleher between the posts for the Champions League tie against Ajax in midweek. Klopp may have been thinking about saving his usual No.2 Adrian for this game back then, but the young Irishman put in a great performance and completely deserved the nod ahead of the experienced Spaniard again.
And he justified the manager s faith once more with a very composed showing, dealing confidently with everything that came his way. There was a particularly difficult moment for him early on when Wolves forward Daniel Podence went for a chip into the top corner from the edge of the box, but Kelleher saved it, just as he saved a close-range blast from substitute Rayan Ait Nouri who replaced Podence with 20 minutes to go. He also plucked a number of difficult crosses from the air and proved very calm with the ball at his feet while under pressure.
Given Adrian s mistakes which often proved costly for Liverpool, they will be pleased that they now have a decent option should Alisson miss any more games this season.
Coady moments
Wolves captain Conor Coady came through the ranks at Liverpool s academy and after a loan spell with Sheffield United, he joined Huddersfield Town on a permanent basis in 2014. He made the move to the Molineux a year later.
His returns to Anfield have always been emotional, but on this occasion, he will want to forget that it ever happened. It was his mistake that gave Salah his chance which resulted in the opening goal as he, a bit irresponsibly, tried to chest the ball down towards Wily Boly and allowed the Liverpool forward to steal it. After that, neither he nor goalkeeper Rui Patricio could ve done anything to prevent the Egyptian from slamming home.
Mistakes happen, it s a part of the game. But the moment that truly put a stain on his performance happened early in the second half as he appeared to have won a penalty for his team through a contact with Sadio Mane in Liverpool s box. Referee Craig Pawson was, however, directed to check the situation via the VAR screen which showed that Coady actually dived while Mane withdrew his leg to avoid contact. The decision was changed and the match restarted with a dropped ball, and Coady can consider himself lucky to have avoided a yellow card for his trouble.
With Liverpool being without Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez most likely for the rest of the season, there have been suggestions that they could try and get Coady back into their ranks. It never looked likely in reality, and even if there was any chance of it happening, now it s gone.
Firmino back on track
It has to be said that Roberto Firmino had a very good game, a welcome sight for Klopp after the Brazilian displayed a poor run of form early in the season. With former Wolves forward Diogo Jota showing fantastic form, there were plenty of calls for the Portuguese to get the nod over Firmino more often, but Firmino showed Klopp was right to stick with him.
The 29-year-old worked as hard as always, and there was that flair again, or swagger if you will, in his play which has made him one of the favourite names among the Anfield faithful.
Roberto Firmino vs. Wolves
CF Comps (@CF_Comps)
Wolves missing Jimenez
Adama Traore on the other hand found opportunities to show his pace few and far between. Apart from one promising moment when he dribbled past Fabinho and whipped in a cross towards the far post which missed Pedro Neto by a few inches, the Wolves winger was mostly dealt with without difficulties. Podence and Neto tried hard to cause problems to the Liverpool makeshift defence but it simply wasn t happening for them. Young Fabio Silva came of the bench in the 62nd minute and contributed practically nothing.
Would it have been different with Raul Jimenez on the pitch? Probably. The Mexican is a formidable attacking player with talent and experience blended in perfect measure, a player who can help in the buildup and make those around him shine, but who also knows himself where the back of the net is.
The good news is that he is recovering well from a fractured skull he suffered in the win over Arsenal last week, but Nuno Espirito Santo will have to find a alternative solution in the meantime.
