Liverpool faced off against Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Molineux Stadium earlier tonight hoping to stretch their lead back to 16 points at the top of the Premier League table. The Reds made a bright start to the contest and took the lead in the 8th minute via Jordan Henderson’s header. Jurgen Klopp’s men defended their advantage resolutely to go into the half-time break one goal to the good.
The home side dominated the ball for major periods after the half-time break and managed to score the equaliser when Raul Jimenez found the back of the net with a brilliant header. However, the mighty Reds of Merseyside showed great character to get themselves ahead again via Roberto Firmino’s emphatic finish from close range. The match ended with the European champions securing a narrow 2-1 win on the road.
Let’s take a look at how each Liverpool player fared during the contest against Wolves.
GK: Alisson Becker – 9/10
The Brazilian keeper made some world-class saves to restrict the opposition to just one goal. He was exceptional tonight and deserved the man of the match award.
RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold – 8/10
The English full-back played some beautiful diagonals to his full-back partner, Robertson during the match and did enough to put off Pedro Neto, who was often trying to take him on down the wide areas.
CB: Joe Gomez – 8/10
The English centre-back was always there in the right positions to deal with the danger and passed the ball accurately out from the back.
CB: Virgil Van Dijk – 7/10
The Dutch colossus made some crucial last-gasp tackles to deny Wolves. However, his ball-distribution could have been a bit better tonight.
LB: Andrew Robertson – 6/10
The Scottish left-back struggled to cope with Adama Traore’s pace, especially in the second 45 minutes. To his credit, he never gave up and put in a battling performance down the left flank.
CM: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – 6/10
The ex-Arsenal playmaker played some neat passes in the opposition half but lacked the quality to cut open the Wolves defence. He ran out of gas and had to be subbed in the second half.
CM: Jordan Henderson – 8.5/10
The Liverpool captain is currently playing the best football of his career. The England international once again showed that he could be a candidate to win the Premier League’s Player of the Year award by putting in a match-winning display at the heart of the Reds midfield. The former Sunderland midfielder was accurate with his distribution and opened the goal-scoring with a well-directed header from close range. He also bagged an assist when he set-up Firmino, who scored with a brilliant finish to earn all three points for the Reds.
CM: Georginio Wijnaldum – 5/10
The Dutch international was often overpowered in midfield and struggled to cope with the pace of the Wolves attackers in the second half.
RM: Mohamed Salah – 6/10
The Egyptian winger got into some dangerous positions in the final third. However, his finishing was woeful, but fortunately for him, Firmino stepped up to make the difference tonight.
ST: Roberto Firmino – 8.5/10
The Brazilian forward was adventurous and inventive with his passes as he often dropped deep into midfield to link up play with others around him. He managed to net the winner in the 84th minute to ensure maximum points for his team.
LM: Sadio Mane – 6/10
The Senegalese speedster made some penetrative runs but had to go off injured in the first half.
Substitutes:
LM: Takumi Minamino – 6/10
It was not a Premier League debut to remember for the Japanese playmaker, but he showed a few glimpses of his brilliance and did well to last the whole match.
CM: Fabinho – 6/10
The Brazilian midfielder had a few nervy moments on the ball but did enough to see out the victory in the end.
ST: Divock Origi – N/A
The Belgian attacker did not have enough time to make an impact on the field.
