Wolverhampton 0, Liverpool 2: First Thoughts

A rainy return to the Molineux but Liverpool take top of the league comfortably.

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Wolverhampton 0 - 2 Liverpool

Liverpool: Salah 18’, Van Dijk 68’

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• Pre-Match: It’s Jordan Henderson’s 300th game!! And the only Liverpool player remaining who last played Wolves in the Premier League in 2012 when we beat them 3-0 so hopefully that’s a good sign. I’m just feeling overly cautious OKAY.
• Trent sitting in the away end is WAY cooler than Robert Plant being there, let’s be real.
• We’re off!! It’s LASHING it down at the Molineux stadium right now, so expect lots of slips and slides and probably dodgy tackles.
• Wolves are giving us a LOT of space so far and Liverpool win a corner when a shot from Roberto Firmino goes skyward. Of course the corner turns into nothing, but good effort!
• GOAL! Mohamed Salah, of course, is the first one to put the Reds in front, taking advantage of a huge hole in the Wolves defense.
• Oh good, a whole lot of nothing for twenty minutes. Loads and loads of space, and an offside miss but nothing really of note since then.
• Slipping and sliding EVERYWHERE.
• Annnd every time they say Moutinho... I hear it and my heart hurts.
• Wolves are doing well to pick up on our sloppy second balls to build up some confidence and that’s not going to be great.
• Halftime: We’re skidding along the surface of the puddles from the rain, honestly. Wolves are going to try to hit us hard in the next half and we need to be ready, but this rain isn’t helping.
• We’re back!! No changes made at the half but can’t imagine who would come on at this point to make a difference.
• ALMOST! Salah gets control of the ball swung out from a corner by James Milner but sends it just barely over the crossbar.
• “Here come the big biceps” is now my favorite part of this game, thanks NBCSN.
• All these shots from distance would be great if we could actually aim them into the back of the net and not just HIT IT AS HARD AS WE CAN.
• Oh good, yes, Naby Keita goes down and Adam Lallana comes on to take his place in what looks hopefully like a precaution. Cool cool cool.
• SO CLOSE! Lallana is very nearly the one to make it two for the Reds after a gorgeous pass and move from Salah, Sadio Mane, and started by Firmino.
• THERE IT IS! Virgil Van Dijk!!!! What a finish by the defender after an assist from Salah! His first Premier League goal!
• Liverpool are doing an amazing job of making space and forcing Wolves to stretch their shape and then exploiting that space.
• Liverpool making a change now, bringing on Georginio Wijnaldum for Bobby, who is slightly hobbling off. Super great. I hate the Christmas season.
• Here to say that gorgeous ball from Hendo into the penalty area shouldn’t go unnoticed, even if Patricio picked it up.
• We can just hold on for now, right? One more would be nice, you know, for the goal differential.
• TEN MINUTES LEFT AND IT’S CLYNE TIME! Nathaniel Clyne comes on for Sadio Mane, forcing James Milner forward.
• Final Whistle: LIVERPOOL TOP OF THE LEAGUE!

We’ll be back shortly to take an in-depth look at everything that happened in today’s game with the full recap. Until then, let us know your take on the ups and downs of the match in the comments, and if you haven’t already, join the community on the Liverpool Offside, where we’ll have full coverage and lively in-game discussion for every match this season.

Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com