Wolves 2, Liverpool 1: First Thoughts

No replay, but an injury to Lovren, so a mixed bag really.

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Wolverhapton 2 - 1 Liverpool

Wolves: Raul 38’, Neves 55’, Player XX’
Reds: Origi 51’, Player XX’, Player XX’

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• Pre-match Thought: Please don’t end in a draw.
• Oh shit. Four minutes gone and Dejan Lovren pulls up with what looks like a pulled hamstring. Well, welcome to the big leagues, 16-year-old Ki-Jana Hoever. Also, we’re officially out of senior center backs.
• I know Naby Keita hasn’t exactly hit the ground running, but he usually produces at least one wow moment each match. He just had one, absolutely skinning a Wolves defender with a bit of skill, and playing a perfect through ball to Daniel Sturridge (who was incorrectly flagged for offside).
• There seems to be confusion—on both sides—about the rules pertaining to being in the penalty area during a goal kick.
• Curtis Jones uses the opportunity to show off his dribbling skills, doing well to beat two men...before running out of space and crossing to no one in particular. Still, it looked nice.
• Nearly half an hour gone and Wolves have won the first corner of the match. That’s how exciting things are so far.
• Thanks to some clown shoes defending, a loose ball falls to Xherdan Shaqiri in a promising position. The Swiss midfielder gets off Liverpool’s first shot of the match, but cannot turn it on target.
• Goal. A cheap give away after Milner fails to control a pass leads to a Wolves break, and the makeshift defense cannot get back quickly enough to cover.
• Halftime Thought: About as good as you’d expect from a side consisting of players that are either inexperienced or playing out of position (or both). And the injury to Lovren? Really bad. Let’s just get outta here with a) no more injuries to senior players, and b) no replay.
• Goal. God damn you, Divock Origi. Trying to send this shit show into a replay? Whatever. The Belgian creates a half-yard of space for himself at the edge of the box and fires an admittedly impressive left-footed strike through a defender’s legs, beating the keeper.
• GOAL! Neves sends this match back into the decisive territory! He unleashes a vicious, curving and dipping strike from distance, and there’s nothing Simon Mignolet can do about it.
• Unlucky! Sturridge wins a free kick in a dangerous position, and Shaqiri hits the inside of the bar with the resulting free kick, but the ball bounces harmlessly out for a goal kick.
• Seventy mintues gone and Klopp brings on the cavalry: Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino come on for Sturridge and Jones.
• Migs running up for a last-minute Liverpool corner. LOLZ, OK. Sadly, we didn’t get to see a moment of ultimate hilarity (either him scoring a last-minute goal, or conceding with an empty net).
• Final Whistle Thought: Well, thank fuck that’s over. Back to real football (and Fowler willing our winning ways) on Saturday.

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