Wolverhampton vs. Liverpool: Preview, Predictions and Tactical Insights

Liverpool heads to Molineux Stadium in Wolverhampton for Round 6 of the Premier League. The Reds are in excellent form after they had a surprising 1-0 defeat against Nottingham Forest. They eliminated West Ham from the Carabao Cup in a decisive 5-1 game and get three points from Bournemouth.

For Wolverhampton, the start of the season is disastrous. How many wins have they gotten? Only one against Burnley in the Carabao Cup. In the Premier League, they avoided defeat only once with a 1-1 draw against Nottingham Forest in round 3.

The big question is whether Liverpool will face another unexpected loss or stick to the plan.

Quick Statistics Zone

Brush up on your stats before the game with these statistical highlights:

• Liverpool has won their last 3 consecutive games against Wolverhampton. Historically, The Reds have won 15 encounters and lost only 4 of them.
• Wolverhampton concedes an average of 2,8 goals per game, while Liverpool concedes only 0,2. This makes the visitors the team with the least conceded goals in this season’s debut.
• Usually, this is not a game with many corners or yellow cards. In their last 10 matches, only one of them had over 10,5 corners and over 4,5 yellow cards.
• There are only two statistics where Wolverhampton ranks in the top three teams. Yellow cards and fouls. Only Chelsea has got more yellow cards so far, and they played a game where Anthony Taylor broke the Premier League record for warning. Taylor will also be in charge of this game, so who knows if he’s still on the warpath?

Liverpool’s Left Wing Problem

Okay, maybe not a problem. But, certainly a dilemma. Who will Arne Slot deploy on the left wing against Wolverhampton? The two main options being Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz, it is indeed hard to choose between these two.

Cody Gakpo has been excellent so far. After coming from a successful Euro 2024 campaign, he had a wonderful start in this season. Scoring a brace against West Ham, and putting on a show on San Siro in Liverpool’s Champions League debut this season, it’s very hard to overlook him as a potential started. He shines on the left wing with his dribbling ability averaging 3,4 successful dribbles per game.

The other candidate is Luis Diaz. Premier League’s second best goalscorer so far after Erling Haaland. Luis Diaz seems to be a completely different player. Last season he scored just 8 goals and underperformed his xG of 11,88. This time, he over performed his xG by +2,5. Diaz scored a brace against Bournemouth and Manchester United, and had a goal and an assist against Brentford. What he lacks in creating chances, he more than makes up in finishing them. So who would you choose?

Breaking Down the Wolves Frail Defense

Liverpool will look to dictate play and control the tempo. Gravenberch and Mac Allister will look to receive the ball and run into space or that creative through ball that breaks the lines of Wolverhampton’s defense. And I don’t think it will be difficult.

Wolverhampton has kept only one clean sheet so far against Burnley. Other than that, they have almost conceded at least two goals, with Chelsea putting up 6 goals, after Noni Madueke also made some unpleasant remarks about their city. The Wolves have conceded 14 times so far, which ranks them 1st in the league for goals conceded. And with Liverpool’s offensive performance, it’s difficult to believe Wolves will keep the sheet clean.

Another thing to keep in mind is that Wolves have conceded four times from set pieces. Only Southampton have conceded more. This coupled with Liverpool’s aerial threat, it’s likely to see a goal coming from a corner or free kick. Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate will be an enormous threat at set pieces, with the duo proving themselves by scoring two of Liverpool’s goals at San Siro.

Is There Any Chance for Wolverhampton?

Wolverhampton has scored only 5 goals this season and two of them were coming from counterattacks. Their intense pressing structure granted them the opening goal at Villa Park, when Matheus Cunha intercepted the ball in Villa’s defensive third. They didn’t generate many chances, and so far they generated a xG of just 5,9.

Let’s acknowledge one thing. The start of this season hasn’t been easy for Wolverhampton. They faced Arsenal, Chelsea, Aston Villa and now Liverpool. Wolverhampton will seek to defend deep, in their 4-4-1-1 formation and will not shy away from fouling to break up play. They will look to put Matheus Cunha or Jørgen Strand Larsen on the fast break and convert. After all, Liverpool’s only conceded goal in the Premier League came from a counterattack.

Conclusions and Predictions

Liverpool are the big favourites here, with odds tipping heavily in their favour. Wolverhampton’s slow start of the season definitely did not hype anyone up, and Liverpool is not the team to bounce back on. The Reds have been defensively solid and managed to produce the most important chances in the league.

Here are some predictions and betting inspiration:

• Mohamed Salah is second in the Premier League at Goals+Assists. He averages 2,4 shots on target so far.
• It’s very likely that Liverpool scores two or more goals, they rank 3rd in goals scored and Wolverhampton has not kept a clean sheet in Premier League games.
• Wolverhampton might hit on the counterattack through Matheus Cunha. The Brazilian averages 1.2 shots on target per game.