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Mohamed Salah penalty takes Liverpool top – but ‘Slotball’ still faces its biggest test
Arne Slot has plenty of experience of being at the summit from winning the Dutch title with Feyenoord but this is new territory as Liverpool manager: top of the Premier League table looking down on the rest.
His team took advantage of Manchester City’s slip earlier in the day and recorded a win that was not exactly straightforward, with Wolves cancelling out Ibrahima Konate’s goal and threatening to upset the form book before Mohamed Salah’s penalty.
Perhaps that is the concern for the chasing pack. It is early days for Slot and this team but they have seven wins from eight games this season with potential to get better. They are the stingiest team in the league this season, with Rayan Ait-Nouri’s leveller just the second goal conceded after a rare mistake.
On this evidence, Slot’s team will be happy to soak up pressure at times and allow their opponents to have the ball, before striking with efficiency when they move forward. It might not be dominant football but it is ruthless and it meant they finished the day top of the table for the first time this season.
The biggest test, according to Slot, will be competing in the Champions League in midweek while trying to maintain their current pace.
“We still have yet to prove that if we come across Arsenal, Newcastle, Chelsea and Aston Villa, that we can still be up there, with Champions League games included as well,” Slot said. “Two years ago was the last time they played in the Champions League and they finished fifth.
“Everybody is realistic. All the players have so much experience that they understand that six games into the season does not give you a realistic view of the table, that is more like after 19 games
“But of course it helps us if you get some good results, especially if you bring in a new manager and a new staff after such a successful one, if we had lost four or five, out of these first six [in the league], life would have been a bit different.”
Can they stay at the top? Aston Villa could go top themselves with a rout against Ipswich Town but the test of this for Liverpool will be in the coming weeks with Crystal Palace, Chelsea and Arsenal on the cards. Having set their stall for the campaign, those games could define the ‘Slotball’ season.
What they have is an excellent platform for the campaign, something to build on quietly while City and Arsenal bicker with each other. Slot has some fellow Dutchmen at the top of their games: Virgil van Dijk strolled around and never looked in trouble, while Ryan Gravenberch has been given a new lease of life under Slot in midfield.
Konate joked that he deserved the player-of-the-match champagne after the final whistle, but Gravenberch’s influence was clear. With the pace of their forwards, they have enough to match most teams this season when it clicks.
Wolves, meanwhile, remain bottom without a win and the encouragement from getting back into the game will be little consolation for manager Gary O’Neil. It is still one point from six games.
On top of a wretched fixture schedule at the start of the season, Wolves were also dealing with a virus that swept through their squad this week. It accounted for Craig Dawson, while Yerson Mosquera’s serious injury meant a new centre-back pairing that eventually buckled.
This match also marked the return to action for referee Anthony Taylor, who booked 14 players and also a couple of coaches when he was last on the pitch, which led to the Cheshire official having a week off. Six bookings, including one for a coach, showed this was a battle, with Wolves playing their part in the contest.
But as is Liverpool’s way under Slot, they are happy to have a good look at the opposition before stepping up the pace. They offered a statement of intent that their threat would come down the left before they took the lead.
Konate’s goal came from this mode of attack, with Diogo Jota raiding down the left and getting a cross over. Konate had moved forward from his centre-back position and used his physical power to climb above Toti and head firmly into the bottom corner. After no goals in the last two campaigns, Konate now has two in three games following his strike against AC Milan. Prolific.
“We need to fight, and we need to scrap,” wrote O’Neil in his match-day programme notes, and he is right, although their equaliser came from a sweeping move that saw them go from defence to attack in a matter of seconds.
Jorgen Strand Larsen took advantage of an error from Konate, who was waiting for his goalkeeper. Wolves kept the ball alive and Carlos Forbs bundled towards Ait-Nouri, who tapped in.
The lead only lasted a couple of minutes, with Taylor awarding a penalty when Jota was being held by Nelson Semedo as they contested a cross. With no VAR reprieve for Wolves, Salah netted his fifth of the season by sending Sam Johnstone the wrong way.
“We lost control and went off the game plan when we scored – caught in the emotion of equalising and we got badly punished,” said O’Neil.
Liverpool see off Wolves: As it happened...
08:02 PM BST
Slot reacts
For the long term you have to look at the performance. I don’t think we started well but you have to give credit to Wolves.
They overloaded our right side a lot with many players. That’s why it was difficult at the start but second half we came out much better. The energy and intensity was much higher than the first 15 minutes.
I saw the first goal and what stands out is the patience we have. In general we were much more patient.
07:54 PM BST
Gravenberch reacts
We keep pushing but it’s really early. This season I want to show myself but I have to keep going. I am happy.
He’s put me in the starting eleven and has given me a lot of confidence.
07:45 PM BST
Konate reacts
Wolves were very good today and it was tough for us. It was a great battle to the end. Every game is very hard but the fans expect three points. We have an important game on Wednesday and have to start the recovery now.
We missed concentration and we have to work on it. Everything cannot be perfect every time. We need more focus during the game.”
07:28 PM BST
FULL TIME: Wolves 1 Liverpool 2
Some boos at the final whistle from the home fans but the away fans are happy because Liverpool are now top of the league with that win.
Lemina has covered his face with his shirt and appears to be distraught. Wolves remain bottom of the table.
07:24 PM BST
90+4mins: Wolves 1 Liverpool 2
More groans from the home fans at the lack of urgency from their players. Time is running out...
07:23 PM BST
90+2mins: Wolves 1 Liverpool 2
No real sign of a goal from Wolves. They are struggling to get the ball forward and create a chance...
07:20 PM BST
90mins: Wolves 1 Liverpool 2
Six minutes of added time.
07:18 PM BST
88mins: Wolves 1 Liverpool 2
Liverpool sub
OFF Robertson
ON Gomez
07:17 PM BST
87mins: Wolves 1 Liverpool 2
Yellow card for Forbs after he catches Robertson late on the Achilles. Similar to the Jota foul earlier.
07:15 PM BST
84mins: Wolves 1 Liverpool 2
82 per cent possession for Liverpool in the last five minutes. They are managing the game very well at the moment.
07:10 PM BST
80mins: Wolves 1 Liverpool 2
Into the final 10 minutes. Will Liverpool put this game to bed or can Wolves get themselves back into this?
07:09 PM BST
78mins: Wolves 1 Liverpool 2
Jones shoots low at the near post but Johnstone is equal to it and palms away for a corner. From the resulting set-piece, the ball is cleared by Wolves and they do well to push Liverpool all the way back to Alisson.
07:07 PM BST
76mins: Wolves 1 Liverpool 2
Wolves sub
OFF Bueno
ON Doyle
07:03 PM BST
72mins: Wolves 1 Liverpool 2
Liverpool subs
OFF Szoboszlai & Diaz
ON Jones & Gakpo
07:02 PM BST
71mins: Wolves 1 Liverpool 2
Wolves on the counter. Forbs drives into the box with Alexander-Arnold close by, he cuts inside but that allows Konate to get back and make the block.
07:01 PM BST
70mins: Wolves 1 Liverpool 2
Liverpool doing a good job of taking the sting out of the game by keeping the ball at the back. Wolves are trying to press them but need to be wary of leaving space.
06:58 PM BST
67mins: Wolves 1 Liverpool 2
Wolves sub
OFF Larsen
ON Hwang
06:56 PM BST
65mins: Wolves 1 Liverpool 2
It took just 45 seconds for Liverpool to regain the lead. O’Neil must be so frustrated with his players.
06:53 PM BST
62mins: Wolves 1 Liverpool 2
Konate brings down Cunha around 30 yard out from goal. He is booked by Taylor.
06:51 PM BST
60mins: Wolves 1 Liverpool 2 GOAL
Salah puts the ball on the spot... and scores, sending Johnstone the wrong way.
Relief for the away side. Agony for the home side.
06:49 PM BST
58mins: Wolves 1 Liverpool 1
Penalty to Liverpool. Semedo is wrong side of Jota, he is all over the Liverpool attacker and after a short delay Taylor points to the spot.
06:49 PM BST
56mins: Wolves 1 Liverpool 1 GOAL
It’s a shambles from Liverpool defensively. Konate thinks he has seen out the danger with Larsen behind him but the Wolves striker doesn’t give up and pulls the ball back to Forbs. He can’t get a clean connection but the ball squirms out to Ait Nouri, who fires in.
And out of nowhere, Wolves are level. Complacency from Liverpool.
06:45 PM BST
55mins: Wolves 0 Liverpool 1
Home fans are starting to get restless. They want to see more from their team, who look short of belief at this stage of the match.
06:43 PM BST
52mins: Wolves 0 Liverpool 1
Wolves sub
OFF Bellegarde
ON Forbs
06:41 PM BST
50mins: Wolves 0 Liverpool 1
Lemina breathes a major sigh of relief. Johnstone plays it short to Lemina, who plays it first time out wide but Salah intercepts and shoots first time but wide with Johnstone out of his goal.
Very lucky Wolves.
06:39 PM BST
48mins: Wolves 0 Liverpool 1
Quality in the final third is badly lacking for Wolves. Bellegarde crosses into the side netting under pressure from Robertson. Has to do better in those positions.
06:35 PM BST
SECOND HALF: Wolves 0 Liverpool 1
Wolves get us back underway. Can they convert their ball possession into goals?
06:31 PM BST
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06:21 PM BST
HALF TIME: Wolves 0 Liverpool 1
Liverpool go in at the break with the upper hand. They haven’t been great but a rare moment of quality was enough to hurt Wolves.
06:18 PM BST
45+2mins: Wolves 0 Liverpool 1 GOAL
Liverpool get the goal they wanted and it’s Konate. Jota beats his man on the outside and whips in a left footed cross which Konate rises and meets firmly with a header that is close to Johnstone but the Wolves keeper can’t keep the ball out.
06:16 PM BST
45mins: Wolves 0 Liverpool 0
Four minutes added on.
06:14 PM BST
44mins: Wolves 0 Liverpool 0
Lemina can count himself lucky not to pick up a yellow card after bringing down Diaz on the counter attack.
But he might be in trouble physically as he receives treatment.
06:12 PM BST
41mins: Wolves 0 Liverpool 0
Shaun Derry, Wolves first team coach, and Sipke Hulshoff, Liverpool assistant coach, were the two people shown a yellow card by Taylor.
06:11 PM BST
39mins: Wolves 0 Liverpool 0
WHAT A SAVE. Robertson fires a cross into the corridor of uncertainty, Szoboszlai races in and meets it cleanly with a sidefoot but it is straight at Johnstone and the ball squirms away for a corner.
Bad finish or great save? A bit of both I think.
06:06 PM BST
35mins: Wolves 0 Liverpool 0
Lemina is down and needing treatment after Jota stands on his Achilles. Referee Taylor doesn’t initially give a yellow card but eventually does. VAR had a good long look at it.
He then shows two yellow cards in the direction of the Liverpool bench. Unclear who received them.
06:02 PM BST
32mins: Wolves 0 Liverpool 0
Salah lays it off to Alexander-Arnold to strike but his effort is straight at Johnstone.
06:01 PM BST
30mins: Wolves 0 Liverpool 0
Lunging tackle by Andre on Mac Allister on the edge of the box. The Wolves midfielder gets the ball but does make contact with the ankle of the Argentine.
Very dangerous position. Salah, Alexander-Arnold and Szoboszlai are standing over it...
05:59 PM BST
26mins: Wolves 0 Liverpool 0
Liverpool are starting to come alive. A succession of corners and good deliveries pose problems for Wolves but they manage to see out the danger.
05:52 PM BST
21mins: Wolves 0 Liverpool 0
Alisson holds on well from a left-footed shot by Cunha. Tough angle to beat someone as good as Alisson.
05:51 PM BST
19mins: Wolves 0 Liverpool 0
Wolves are on top at the moment and you get the sense that they need a goal to cement that dominance. The home fans groan when Bellegarde has a chance to run at Alexander-Arnold but opts to pass back.
05:47 PM BST
15mins: Wolves 0 Liverpool 0
Shaky moment for Johnstone. Liverpool press him and the goalkeeper is hesitant, runs out of options and passes the ball out of play for a corner.
He does not look comfortable at all on the ball.
05:44 PM BST
12mins: Wolves 0 Liverpool 0
Liverpool want a penalty after contact between Ait Nouri and Salah in the box. Replays show the defender did have a hold of the forward but perhaps not enough to warrant a penalty.
05:40 PM BST
10mins: Wolves 0 Liverpool 0
62 per cent posssesion for Wolves. Nothing to come from it so far but they have started with belief.
05:37 PM BST
7mins: Wolves 0 Liverpool 0
Alexander-Arnold picks up a yellow card for kicking the ball away and delaying the restart.
Arsenal fans will be happy.
05:35 PM BST
4mins: Wolves vs Liverpool
Early stages but Wolves look confident in possession and happy to build from the defence. But Liverpool are pressing and poised to pounce if an error is made
05:31 PM BST
KICK OFF: Wolves vs Liverpool
Szoboszlai gets the match started for Liverpool with a pass back to Alisson.
05:26 PM BST
A reminder of the teams
Wolves
Johnstone, Nelson Semedo, Bueno, Gomes, Ait Nouri, Andre Trindade, Bellegarde, Joao Gomes, Lemina, Matheus Cunha, Larsen.
Subs: Jose Sa, Doherty, Hwang, Rodrigo Gomes, Doyle, Sarabia, Borges, Goncalo Guedes, Pond.
Liverpool
Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, van Dijk, Robertson, Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Salah, Szoboszlai, Diaz, Jota.
Subs: Kelleher, Gomez, Endo, Chiesa, Jones, Gakpo, Tsimikas, Quansah, Bradley.
Referee
Anthony Taylor (Cheshire)
05:24 PM BST
Pre-match thoughts from Arne Slot
On 10 changes being made to the line-up...
We have a really big squad and we need everybody. Different players played on Wednesday than last weekend, but what was most important is that we went into the next round.
On the possibility of going top of the Premier League with a win...
You have to be motivated every game. Each game, each week. But yes, of course, that we could go above City would be amazing but the season is so long, so we go game by game. So, let’s see.
05:12 PM BST
Pre-match thoughts from Gary O’Neil
I’m not fazed at all. I’m looking forward to the next part of it. The first thing is you have to accept where you are and then we fight with everything we have to improve it, which is what we’ve done every day since Aston Villa.
We’ve worked every day with everything we have to get the group in the best spot possible for Liverpool, and then we give absolutely everything to try and improve our points tally.
05:03 PM BST
Can Wolves keep Alexander-Arnold quiet tonight?
100 - With today's assist for Luis Díaz, Trent Alexander-Arnold has now been directly involved in 100 goals as a Liverpool player (19 goals, 81 assists). Visionary. pic.twitter.com/OEfuU3PbU7
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 21, 2024
04:49 PM BST
Team news explained
There are two changes for Wolves. Toti and Bueno start in place of Dawson and the injured Mosquera at centre-back.
Liverpool also make two changes. Alisson returns in goal and Jota starts. Nunez misses out through illness.
04:39 PM BST
Liverpool starting XI
Team news is HERE 📋👊 #WOLLIV
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) September 28, 2024
04:39 PM BST
Wolves starting XI
✌️ Two changes from #AVLWOL
➡️ Bueno and Toti in to start at CB
Our line-up to face @LFC.
🐺📋 pic.twitter.com/1UqU5OIc6H— Wolves (@Wolves) September 28, 2024
04:31 PM BST
Wolves vs Liverpool
Hello and welcome to coverage from the Premier League as Wolves host Liverpool.
Liverpool come into the game with a chance of ending the day on top of the league after Man City draw with Newcastle.
Luis Diaz will be one of Liverpool’s key men having made a strong start to the season.
He has scored five in his last four league matches, behind only Manchester City’s Erling Haaland and Chelsea’s Cole Palmer in the goalscoring stakes.
“He scored eight league goals last season. For me he was someone who could score a goal and eight is, for his quality, not of his standard,” Arne Slot said.
“Then I think he comes back to his normal situation. Maybe he was a bit unlucky last season but a player of his quality will always score a lot of goals every season.
“We train on a daily basis trying to get them as close as we can in certain situations and help in the best possible way where to position themselves and what to do in certain situations. But it is mainly in the last third of the pitch the quality of the player and the finishing he has and I think he always had this.”
Meanwhile, Gary O’Neil has revealed Wolves are dealing with an outbreak of illness ahead of the match.
Their struggling defence suffered a blow in the week after Yerson Mosquera was stretchered off with a serious knee injury in their loss to Aston Villa. Several others missed training on Friday and are doubtful through a virus.
“There’s quite a bit of illness actually,” said Wolves boss O’Neil. “A few will need a check tomorrow on how they’re feeling - we just had a little bit of a virus going around. Quite a few missed training today so we’ll see how we are tomorrow.
“We have a few issues but looking forward to getting out there and make it as difficult as possible for Liverpool. Some lads will struggle for tomorrow but that’s not a definite, sometimes these things can clear up in 24 hours.
“We are hopeful that the guys with the virus will be fine and 100 per cent available for tomorrow. But as the doctor told me, it’s hard to give a definitive answer.”
