After a two-week hiatus, the Premier League resumes this Saturday, with Liverpool and Wolverhampton Wanderers kicking off the Fifth Round with a game at the Molineux Stadium.
The hosts have endured a tough start to the new season, with the exit of their coach Julen Lopetegui not helping activities on the field where they have won just one out of four games.
After losing their opening three games, Gary O’Neil finally found a win in a narrow 1-0 win over struggling Everton.
Meanwhile, Liverpool have had a solid start to the season, with their three wins and one draw out of four games only bettered by Manchester City, who have a 100% winning start.
With this being the weekend’s first game, the Reds have the opportunity to go top of the table if they win here.
But will they beat Wolves at the Molineux, or will the hosts make it back-to-back PL wins over at home?
Pre-match Stats
- Wolves have won only twice in the last 37 PL games they’ve conceded (D8, L27).
- They have suffered the most league defeats (nine) against Liverpool than against any other team since re-entering the top flight in 2018/19.
- Liverpool have the longest current unbeaten record in the Premier League (W10, D5), which is their fifth different run of 15+ PL games without defeat under Jurgen Klopp.
- The Reds have kept just two clean sheets in their last ten away games in all competitions.
- Six of Liverpool’s last eight away PL matches saw both teams find the net.
- Mohamed Salah has scored or assisted in his last ten PL games (G5, A7).
- The last ten games between Wolves and Liverpool have featured an average of 2.4 goals being scored.
- Liverpool have won 14 out of 18 H2H games against Wolves in the PL era.
Match Preview
Wolves will be hoping to get back to winning ways when they welcome Liverpool to the Molineux on Saturday.
The hosts have won just one PL game so far, with a 3-2 loss to Crystal Palace just before the international break, their most recent game. Despite the loss, they would have had something to cheer about as goals from Hee-Chan Hwang and Matheus Cunha featured the first time they had scored two goals in a single Premier League game since April (W2, D1, L6).
They have conceded 2+ goals in five of those nine games, so tightening up the defence should be the first target for O’Neil, who oversaw a 1-0 home win over Liverpool when he was Bournemouth’s coach last season.
But the Liverpool that O’Neil defeated last season isn’t the same team today, with the Reds not tasting a league defeat since that 1-0 loss at the Vitality Stadium. Since then, they have recorded ten PL wins and have only lost to Man City in that period.
The Reds will travel to West Midlands in a confident mood, having won their last three games, with the 3-0 commanding win over Aston Villa the best of the lot.
But despite their form and confidence, the Reds’ chances of winning could be threatened by the time of the game as they failed to win any of their six early Saturday kick-offs last season (D3, L3), five of which came on their travels (D2, L3).
A cool finish from Salah during #WOLLIV in 2018, slotting home with the outside of the boot 💫🔴 pic.twitter.com/H4GbfQRkV1
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) September 14, 2023
Team News
Gary O’Neil currently has no injury worries and is expected to start his strongest team, which will likely feature permanent summer signing Matheus Cunha.
Meanwhile, Jurgen Klopp is sweating over the fitness of Darwin Nunez, who picked up a knock during the international break while away with Uruguay. Trent Alexander-Arnold, Thiago Alcantara and Ibrahima Konate are unlikely to feature, with the trio nursing minor injuries.
Predicted Lineups
Predicted Wolves Lineup: Jose Sa, Nélson Semedo, Craig Dawson, Max Kilman, Rayan Ait Nouri, Pedro Neto, Joao Gomes, Mario Lemina, Pablo Sarabia, Matheus Cunha, Fábio Silva.
Predicted Liverpool Lineup: Alisson, Joe Gomez, Joel Matip, Jarell Quansah, Andrew Robertson, Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister, Curtis Jones, Mohamed Salah, Darwin Núñez, Luis Díaz.
