Liverpool welcomed supporters back to Anfield in style with a 4-0 win over Wolves in front of 2,000 fans on the Kop on Sunday night.
Liverpool 4-0 Wolves
Premier League, Anfield
December 6, 2020
Goals: Salah 23′, Wijnaldum 59′, Matip 67′, Semedo (OG) 77′
Caoimin Kelleher – 8 (out of 10)
A top stop early on to tip a lobbed effort from Podence wide. Always calm on the ball and so are the team and fans when he’s in possession – that’s why he’s No. 2 now.
Two top aerial claims and tips-away underline his authority and composure. Very impressive.
Neco Williams – 7
A dodgy start to proceedings with the yellow card very early on, but to be fair he recovered quickly and well. A few blocks and some nice link-ups down the wing – not an easy job up against Adama Traore at times.
Fabinho – 9 (Man of the Match)
Missed one tackle against Traore which might have been disastrous but won the rest in typically imperious fashion.
It’s hard to imagine he’s not in his primary role when he puts in performances as good as this. Most top-flight clubs would love their first-choice defender to be this good.
Joel Matip – 8
Fantastic expressions and reaction to giving away a foul in the first half.
Really good in the air, covered his full-back well, typical Matip bits for most of the match. And a goal – his first in over a year, celebrated in a very-Matip fashion in front of the Kop!
Andy Robertson – 8
Excellent on the overlap. Linked up so many times with Mane down the left and teed up a couple of nice chances.
Did have a few tricky moments against Traore in the first half but basically coped well throughout.
Jordan Henderson – 8
Tidy on the ball, excellent in winning it back. Played further forward initially, then sat in as the six.
A fine lofted pass set Gini Wijnaldum away for the second goal, and he created the first for Salah too. A captain’s performance.
Curtis Jones – 7
A quiet match for Jones mostly, who took a knock early on and was maybe hampered a little by that.
Clever running, good positional work, always ready to cover and got a decent shot away in the second half.
Gini Wijnaldum – 8
Another superlative display from our midfield machine.
Barely ever lost the ball, played both midfield roles near-perfectly and even thought he was wearing the Netherlands shirt in the second half by spanking one top bins!
Considering how many thought he might be on his way in the summer, Wijnaldum just continues to show the capacity to get better and become more important.
Mohamed Salah – 8
Hardly had a sniff of the ball before his first chance arrived and he buried it in typical fashion.
Was very involved in the Reds’ build-up play, gave Wolves trouble all night with his runs in behind and produced a great cross for Matip’s goal.
Just don’t let him take free kicks.
Roberto Firmino – 7
Fun Bobby was back! Looked much sharper than in recent games, linked play nicely, brought out the cheeky nutmegs a few times.
Nice to hear the Kop give him their backing, too. We’ve missed hearing the Bobby song!
Sadio Mane – 8
Aside from his finishing, this was nearly a 10/10 performance. A few wayward shots and headers on the run and a thundered strike after an immaculate first touch right after half time – he just needed a finishing touch.
But his all-round game was brilliant, he found his way past tackles and in behind defenders to keep the Reds’ attack unpredictable.
Still, eight games without a goal now for Mane after Semedo got the own goal.
Substitutes
Trent Alexander-Arnold (on for Williams, 68′) – 7
Great to get our right-back out there after injury. Got an assist, obviously, and it was a beauty!
Diogo Jota (on for Firmino, 72′) – 6
Bit of a run-out but little involvement as the game was already won – nice to play against his former side and in front of fans at Anfield for the first time as a Red.
Naby Keita (on for Henderson, 81′) – n/a
Back to fitness. Let’s try and keep him there now.
Subs not used: Adrian, Nat Phillips, Kostas Tsimikas, Takumi Minamino.
Jurgen Klopp – 10
Picked his strongest side and given the gap between matches on either side of this fixture it was the right thing to do.
Hard to argue that the boss got anything wrong in this game at all; the tactics were good and the Reds dominated throughout, Klopp got to berate the fourth official a few times and be vindicated afterwards and he made subs at reasonable times.
Taking Neco off – on a booking and against Traore – was as wise as it was relevant, to bring Trent back into the action.
A great day for Klopp and the Reds overall.
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