It was completely understandable why Jurgen Klopp detested the 12:30 p.m. kickoff time for 45 minutes. But when the second half ends with jubilant Liverpool supporters singing about winning the Premier League, one might wonder what exactly Klopp ever had to worry about.
Around 3 p.m. on Saturday, Liverpool’s name was listed in first place in the table for the first time since May 2022. Even if it was only a temporary arrangement, it still spoke to the team’s ongoing development and the improvements being made by a group determined to put their struggles from the previous year behind them. In an attempt to put the weight of recent history – both good and bad – aside for a squad that has undergone significant change in the last few months, Klopp enthusiastically declared about his new-look team on Friday, “This is year one.
Everyone associated with the club should be fired up right now because Klopp is up for the challenge. And from the perspective of the supporters, the real intrigue right now is what the ceiling is for this team, who, despite their sometimes very obvious difficulties here at Molineux, spent the final minutes pushing hard for a fourth goal of the day.
The Reds’ season may have reached its lowest point in the 3-0 loss they suffered here when they last came, back in February. Wolves stunned the Reds with a quick-fire flurry early on before adding a gut-punching third in the dying minutes. Despite the early goal conceded and another appalling start in the Black Country, there was not going to be a repeat this time. Indeed, progress.
The Reds dug deep, despite a first half in which they were pressed so hard against the ropes they almost fell out of the ring altogether. If the 2-1 victory at Newcastle demonstrated Liverpool’s ability to hold firm and remain in games where they are second best, it was also on display here. Given that Ibrahima Konate had trained this week and was deemed fit enough for the bench, the Reds manager’s decision to start Jarell Quansah was a significant one. This was especially true given that he already had two other members of his starting back four out due to injury—Trent Alexander-Arnold was ill and Virgil van Dijk was suspended—as well as the absence of two more key players. Given that it is only the fifth game of what promises to be a lengthy season, some were left wondering whether Liverpool made the right decision by choosing not to add another defender to their ranks while the transfer window was still open.
It was further highlighted by the fact that Quansah eventually suffered a second-half injury and was replaced by Konate. The return of Van Dijk will be crucial in that regard because it appears that Liverpool is currently down to its bare essentials at the back. To be fair to the young defender, there wasn’t much he could do to stop the first goal after Pedro Neto had ripped through Liverpool’s right side of the defense, giving Hwang Hee-chan the chance to side-foot past Alisson Becker after just seven minutes.
The Reds had already received their just desserts for such a shoddy, haphazard start to the game, so the writing had been on the wall for them as well. That was best illustrated by the scene in which Alexis Mac Allister received an immediate caution for dragging Matheus Cunha back after carelessly turning over the ball. But in the end, Quansah was able to stand tall. The center-back played admirably, and with the rest of the defense feeling more at ease and familiar, he can only expect to get better.
You anticipate the importance of the Europa League for him. However, Mac Allister, a player for Argentina, had a bad day. He had just finished playing Wednesday night “in the mountains of Bolivia,” to use a Klopp phrase. It was understandable and explicable why the World Cup winner was so off the pace as a result—Mac Allister was photographed puffing breathing apparatus to combat the effects of the La Paz altitude—but it was less clear why the manager chose to start him for the 6,000-mile trip back to Merseyside, where he arrived at around 4am on Thursday morning.
At least Mac Allister had a justification for his gloom. While the good news for Klopp at halftime whistle was that his team was somehow still in it, the bad news was that he only had five substitutes available to him to change things. It was tempting to wonder if the rest of the Liverpool team had also been playing at the Estadio Hernando Siles earlier this week during the first period.
As Liverpool switched to a 4-4-2 for the resumption, Jota was forced to shoot wide right, but the tactical change didn’t last long. Luis Diaz was substituted for Mac Allister. Prior to being replaced by Harvey Elliott and Darwin Nunez, Cody Gakpo and Jota had just brought Liverpool to a tie. Gakpo, a Netherlands international, did not put on a particularly strong performance, but his final contribution was the most significant because it made him the fifth and final player in Klopp’s front five to score this season.
Nunez was faster than he usually was, but after a clever pass from Diaz, he had a chance to shoot from close range and should have scored. Jose Sa suffocated it. However, the game was altered by the South American couple’s introductions. They provided a directness to Liverpool’s attack that gave Wolves finally something to consider. However, the game-changing play was executed by captain Andy Robertson, who unusually controlled a Sa clearance near the halfway line before driving forward and completing the move after a one-two with Mohamed Salah.
It was the ideal way to mark the occasion since the Scotland captain was leading the Reds on the day of his 200th appearance for the team. After Elliott’s attempt eventually tucked into the corner, the Reds made certain in stoppage time. Perhaps Hugo bueno will be remembered for scoring an own goal, but the Liverpool midfielder was not one bit concerned as Klopp’s team celebrated their victory with the supporters.
A positive start to the campaign remains just that five games in, but taking top spot is at least a symbol that this is a Liverpool squad heading in the right direction. “Year one” has started in superb fashion.
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