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By Sam McGuire

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The story so far

In the nicest way possible, Slot went from hero to zero at Anfield in what felt like a blink of an eye. The Reds had the perfect start to the season, winning all of their opening five fixtures in the Premier League. Then they lost six of the next seven as well as suffering defeats in the Champions League to Galatasaray and PSV as well as a loss to Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup. 

Slot wasn’t able to get the best out of any of the new summer signings, benching Hugo Ekitike and Florian Wirtz despite bright starts to life at Anfield while Milos Kerkez had a stint on the sideline and Jeremie Frimpong was ruled out with hamstring issues. He then made the bold decision to bench Mohamed Salah. And while results have picked up over recent weeks, the Reds are five unbeaten in the league, performances are still lacking.

Sooner or later, we’re going to see one of two things. The bubble will burst and this unbeaten run will turn into a winless streak or confidence grows and performance will match the results. Right now, it’s too early to say which one is more likely. 

Wolves, meanwhile, have struggled all season. They even missed out on a new manager bounce following the dismissal of Vítor Pereira. Rob Edwards arrived from Middlesbrough and he’s suffered six defeats on the bounce. 

His side are rooted to the bottom of the table with just two points. They are 16 points away from safety right now and relegation looks like a formality at this stage. They have, however, done enough in recent games to get something. For example, against Nottingham Forest and Brentford, the xG was equal but they lost both. Against Arsenal, they lost by a 94th minute own goal. 

They’re due a bit of luck. Maybe they get it at Anfield?

Key Players 

For Liverpool, it has to be Hugo Ekitike right now. Salah is away at the African Cup of Nations, Cody Gakpo is still a doubt, Dominik Szoboszlai is suspended while Alexander Isak is going to be missing for a while. The pressure is on Ekitike to keep firing and he’s the man in form right now with five goals in his last three for the Reds. 

For Wolves, it has to be Jørgen Strand Larsen. The powerhouse forward missed a penalty against Brentford but he’s a handful and Liverpool’s defence has struggled with direct players this term. He’s not their kryptonite, but he’s got the physical traits to cause Ibrahima Konaté and Virgil van Dijk some problems. 

Team News

The hosts can’t call upon Dominik Szoboszlai who is now suspended after picking up a fifth booking against Spurs. Alexander Isak is out for the foreseeable with an ankle injury and leg fracture in the process of scoring against Tottenham. Giovanni Leoni is missing with an ACL injury while Conor Bradley was replaced at half-time against Spurs and could be a doubt. Cody Gakpo could return, though Slot isn’t going to rush his compatriot back into the team with so many issues right now. Salah is away on international duty with Egypt. 

Wolves have a host of names out. Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, Marshall Muntesi, Rodrigo Gomes and Hugo Bueno are expected to miss out with injuries while Emmanuel Agbadou and Tawanda Chirewa are away at the African Cup of Nations. 

Prediction 

We’re going to go with a narrow 2-1 home win. The Reds have enough quality to get the job done but don’t expect it to be a convincing performance. 

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(Cover image from IMAGO)

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