MOTD COMMENTATOR’S NOTES
@Wilsonfooty: The two busiest top-flight teams in England meet at Molineux in what should be a really enjoyable encounter. This will be Wolves’ 40th match of the season and Liverpool’s 37th.
It’s easy to forget that, amid the summer toil of the Europa League qualifying rounds, Wolves took only four points from their first six league games of the season.
They have been superb ever since, and could well bridge the five-point gap currently separating them from fourth place. Make no mistake, Liverpool’s 13-match winning run in the Premier League will be sorely tested.
But Liverpool are Liverpool – and they generally find a way.
VIEW FROM THE DUGOUT
Wolves head coach Nuno Espirito Santo: “They’re very good and do things very well. It’s a very good, fantastic team.
“Liverpool is a huge club. Good team. What we’ll do is prepare ourselves well and play the game. Our fans will be behind us, a fantastic atmosphere, so we have to enjoy the game.
“We have to compete. That is the word – compete. When you compete, you don’t give up. Every ball is important.”
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp: “Wolves are not only this year, but last year, really difficult to play.
“They play a similar system to other teams. It depends a little bit how they set up – three or five at the back. But they do it differently, Coady has a different role, they make the pitch really big and ask you for a lot of footwork. You have to run a lot.
“That’s normal and good, it’s their way to play. For us, there are solutions for that but not without working a lot. You cannot play on a 50 or 60 per cent basis against Wolves, then you have absolutely no chance. That’s the challenge for that game.”
LAWRO’S PREDICTION
Everything about Wolves is impressive – their head coach Nuno Espirito Santo, their style of play and their threat going forward. They are a very skilful outfit.
Do I think they are going to be the team to end Liverpool’s long unbeaten run? Not quite, because Wolves are not brilliant at home, but this is still the Reds’ most difficult game for a long time – and I am going for a draw here.
Prediction: 1-1
Lawro’s full predictions v Ride bassist Steve Queralt
MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head
- Wolves have won just one of the 11 Premier League meetings and have lost the last six, scoring just once in those games.
- The Reds haven’t lost away against Wolves in league competition since August 1981.
- The only three players to score a Premier League goal for Wolves against Liverpool are Kenny Miller, Stephen Ward and Steven Fletcher. Miller’s was the only one scored at Molineux.
Wolverhampton Wanderers
- Wolves have earned 18 points from losing positions in the Premier League this season, seven more than any other team.
- They have led for just 305 minutes in the top flight this campaign, the least amount of any side. In contrast, Liverpool have led for the most: 1,160 minutes.
- Since the beginning of last season, only Liverpool and Manchester City have managed more points against established top-six opposition than Wolves, who have taken 24.
- Nuno Espirito Santo’s side are unbeaten in their past seven home evening kick-offs in the Premier League (7pm or later), winning five and drawing two.
- Wolves have scored 68% of their league goals after half-time since the start of last season, the highest proportion of any current top-flight side.
- They have conceded the first goal in a league-high 16 games this season, including each of the last seven.
Liverpool
- Liverpool have taken 91 points from the past 93 available in the Premier League.
- A win or draw on Thursday would mean Liverpool become only the fifth team in the history of the English Football League to go 40 or more league games undefeated, after Nottingham Forest (42, 1977-78), Arsenal (49, 2003-04), Chelsea (40, 2004-05) and Huddersfield Town (43, 2011).
- They have kept a clean sheet in all seven league fixtures since Joe Gomez returned to the starting line-up on 7 December. The Reds had kept two clean sheets in their opening 15 league matches of the campaign.
- The Reds could equal their club top-flight record of eight successive clean sheets, set from December 1922 to March 1923 and matched from October to December 2005.
- They have won each of their last eight evening kick-offs in the Premier League (7pm or later), scoring 31 goals in these games and conceding just six.
