Having confirmed their progression to the last sixteen of the Champions League at the top of their group with a victory over Ajax in mid-week, Trent Alexander-Arnold back in training and Caoimhin Kelleher looking a solid stopgap while they wait for the return of Alisson Becker in goal, life at Liverpool is looking a bit less manic than it has done over the last month or so.
Jurgen Klopp made just one change in his usual 4-3-3 formation, dropping Diogo Jota against his former club for Roberto Firmino to continue his recent good form.
Nuno Espirito Santo matched Klopp’s 4-3-3, although in practice it worked a lot differently. He made only one change to the team that beat Arsenal, with injured Raul Jiménez replaced by Ruben Neves.
Wolves’ shape was nominally a 4-3-3, but when defending it often became a 3-5-2. Adama Traoré would follow Andy Robertson deep into his own half, forming a back five, while Ruben Neves would push up alongside false nine Daniel Podence to pressure Liverpool playing out, although Pedro Neto would sometimes fill in one of these spots.
Liverpool used the same midfield set-up from the second half of the Ajax game, with Georginio Wijnaldum at the base, Curtis Jones on the left and Jordan Henderson pushing forward on the right. This would generally see Jones drop in to the left of Wijnaldum and Liverpool had some success building up down the flank – Jones would be free in deeper positions and Robertson would push high, dragging Traoré backwards, leaving pockets of space for Sadio Mané to drop back, pick up the ball and dribble at Wolves’ defence.
On the opposite flank, Henderson would often drop back into the right-back position for a switch of play, allowing Neco Williams to push forward.
Mid-way through the first half, Liverpool switched this midfield to the set-up that started the Ajax game. This had an immediate effect: Henderson picked up the ball at the base of the midfield and played a long ball forward, which Conor Coady miscontrolled, falling to Mohamed Salah to finish.
After going behind, Wolves pressed higher in search of the ball. To ensure Liverpool could play around this, Firmino would drop deep into the midfield, forcing one of Wolves’ midfielders to pick him up, leaving Henderson free.
For the second half, Traoré was swapped across to the left flank, putting him up against Williams who was already on a booking. Liverpool did a great job of doubling up on the Spaniard though. In the first half, Mané would get back to aid Robertson, while in the second Wijnaldum would shift across to help Williams, ensuring Traoré couldn’t isolate the full-backs.
Liverpool doubled their lead with a counter-attack. Firmino dropped off, pulling Willy Boly forward and Henderson played the ball in behind to Liverpool’s attackers running three-versus-two at Wolves’ defenders. Fernando Marçal and Coady couldn’t close down Wijnaldum without leaving one of Mané or Salah free, so the Dutchman had the time to pick out a shot past Rui Patricio.
They then added a third from a corner.
With the introduction of Fabio Silva in place of Neves, Wolves switched to a 4-4-2. This added nothing to their attacking influence, which was non-existent throughout the match, and simply opened them up further defensively. For Liverpool’s fourth, Jones picked up the ball in midfield, dribbled forward and picked out substitute Alexander-Arnold down the flank, who sent in a cross that Nélson Semedo turned into his own net.
It was a great match for Liverpool to welcome back their supporters. Wolves put up much less of a fight than they have in recent years, allowing Liverpool to run out convincing winners without really having to work for it.
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