• Form Guide

 

  • Wolverhampton Wanderers

 

Wolves' results have been mixed over their last five games. They beat Southampton 2-1 away on Valentine’s Day before recording another one-goal win, this time at Molineux, as Nuno Espirto Santo’s men kept a clean sheet against Leeds United.

The pack then travelled north and Rúben Neves rescued a point in a 1-1 draw with Newcastle just three days before the 4-1 mauling by the hands of Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.

Their latest game was a 0-0 draw with Aston Villa in which Romain Saiss missed a sitter from no more than two yards out. Liverpool will be hoping that their opponents are equally wasteful when the two lock horns on Monday night.

 

 

The champions lost 2-0 at home to Everton before winning by the same scoreline at Brammal Lane, condemning Sheffield United to another defeat last month.

Then, 1-0 home losses against Chelsea and Fulham followed as Jürgen Klopp’s men fell to a sixth-straight home defeat for the first time in their history.

The Reds have, however, found solace in the Champions League – which they of course won in 2019 – and triumphed RB Leipzig 4-0 on aggregate to keep their season alive.

 

  • Team news

 

 

Wolves head coach Nuno Espirito Santo will pick from an unchanged squad, with some key players still missing.

Portuguese winger Daniel Podence continues his spell on the treatment table with a groin injury, as does Marcal.

Raul Jimenez continues his recovery from a fractured skull, but isn't expected to return to the match day squad for some months yet.

 

 

Liverpool may be without Roberto Firmino for the trip to the Midlands.

The Reds' No.9 missed matches with Fulham and RB Leipzig due to a knock and the club’s medical team will assess whether he can be involved at Molineux.

Jürgen Klopp said on Saturday: “We will see. Bobby was not with us, that means he couldn’t play."

Klopp reported no new injury concerns, but Jordan HendersonVirgil van DijkJoe Gomez and Joel Matip remain long-term absentees.

 

  • Last five meetings

 

Liverpool have only lost once in their last five meetings with Wolves, the 2-1 FA Cup defeat back in January 2019 when, unsurprisingly, Raúl Jiménez and Rúben Neves scored either side of Divock Origi’s strike.

All four meetings since then have come in the Premier League and the Reds boast a 100% record, only conceding once in the crucial 2-1 victory at Molineux last season when Bobby Firmino fired a superb winner. In the home game of 2018/19, Sadio Mané bagged a brace to give the hosts a 2-0 win and also netted the only goal of the game in the next meeting in December 2019.

Then came the all-important 2-1 win as Liverpool marched on towards the Premier League title, and Klopp’s men made it four wins in a row against Wolves with a demolition job earlier this season.

As usual, Mohamed Salah got the ball rolling with the only first half goal on 24 minutes before Georginio Wijnaldum settled any remaining Anfield nerves with a crisp strike just shy of the hour mark. Joël Matip then got in on the act before Nélson Semedo turned the ball into his own net to complete the scoring.

Liverpool should, therefore, go into Monday night’s showdown in confident mood.

 

  • Who to watch

 

  • Willian José

 

Willian José is an absolute nuisance. He’ll pull you, he’ll kick you, he’ll chase lost balls into the channels. He’ll do anything and everything to be a defender’s nightmare and, with Liverpool’s makeshift backline, he could be real star turn in this game. After making his name playing and continually turning up against the big three in Spain for Real Sociedad, the Brazilian will no doubt have his eyes fixed to getting on the scoresheet.

 

 

Yes, he’s an obvious choice, but Mo Salah is in as good form as any Liverpool player, which actually isn’t too hard to do right now. Anyway, the Egyptian bagged in both legs of the Champions League round of 16 tie against RB Leipzig including a fine solo run and finish into the bottom corner on Wednesday.

 

 

The game kicks off at 20:00 (GMT) and will be broadcasted live on Sky Sports' Premier League and Main Event channels in the UK.

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