Van Dijk dominates as Reds go top after 6 – 5 talking points from Wolves 1-2 Liverpool

Liverpool were far from impressive but found a way to win as a 2-1 victory at Wolves sent the Reds top of the table.

Wolves 1-2 Liverpool

Premier League (6), Molineux
September 28, 2024

Goals: Ait-Nouri 56′; Konate 45+2′, Salah pen 61′

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Slow start for Liverpool… again

Some things never change, perhaps? The Reds are no longer under Jurgen Klopp, but one thing which hasn’t altered much under Arne Slot is Liverpool starting matches slowly.

Against Ipswich it was particularly noticeable and against Nottingham Forest too – we know how that went – but on Saturday evening in the Midlands, the Reds were once more barely at more than walking pace, ceding ground and possession and far slower than their opponents to every ball in the opening 20 minutes.

By the same token, it’s also fair to therefore point out that while we might be kicking off games in second gear at best, we certainly haven’t been as mindlessly lax this term as we were for a year or 18 months previously, in terms of always conceding the first goal in games.

And as was the case against Forest but not against Ipswich, we never really altered that approach and picked up our performance level – the difference being, we did find a route to goal here.

Forest showed that this type of performance can be extremely costly, and could well have been again here had it not been against the team bottom of the table.

 

Konate had an up-and-down day

What a 90 minutes for Ibou Konate.

The centre-back was one of two or three standouts in the first half on account of us giving so much time and ball to Wolves, meaning the No. 5 more than once had to find himself sprinting back to cut out crosses or head away dangerous balls.

Then, he ended the first half by powering in a header for his first Premier League goal – a tremendous run and leap, although perhaps the ‘keeper should have done better after getting a glove to it.

If that was all positive, though, the second half brought with it far less impressive points to his game.

The Wolves equaliser came as a result of an absolute mess, started higher upfield but compounded by Konate’s indecision and lack of strength to hold off Jorgen Strand Larsen – then he was booked a few minutes later for a late challenge and gave away a succession of loose passes.

Yet again, though, there was a turnaround in his game to come as he raced back to make a vital block after Trent Alexander-Arnold was turned inside out, with Wolves looking likely to really test Alisson at least.

 

Midfield too sloppy and casual, on and off the ball

In terms of the rhythm of the Reds’ game and the tempo of our play, it’s not fair to entirely place blame and responsibility at the feet of the three midfielders, but of course they have a major part to do with it.

On this occasion, they were way too often below the required level.

Dominik Szoboszlai was perhaps the biggest culprit, given the lack of diligence in his passing and that four-yard miss he somehow managed, but he wasn’t alone.

Alexis Mac Allister has been in excellent form but even his first touch was a little off, several passes going astray.

Add to all this the likes of Mo Salah not weighting his passes at key moments and a general malaise meaning it was all too slow, too predictable – even Ryan Gravenberch, who barely misplaced a pass and was the undoubted top pick in the centre, was guilty of slow speed of play at times – and it’s clear Liverpool were miles below their best at a ground which has often yielded this type of scrappy, difficult, narrow-margins encounter.

In terms of improvements, Curtis Jones‘ midweek showing and impact off the bench should help raise individuals’ performance, while Harvey Elliott will be keenly looking at what he might add once fit.

 

Van Dijk led a defensive masterclass

While it is always fair to point out the not-so-good aspects from performances, this was far from a dreadful day – Liverpool after all won the game!

And for that, there’s a pleasing trait developing to thank: even when not playing well, even when far from our fluid best and even when making ourselves problems, Liverpool do not give up chances.

Aside from the Rayan Ait-Nouri tap-in from three yards after a defensive horror moment, Liverpool allowed an xG of just 0.25 – with Wolves creating zero big chances themselves and having only 18 touches in our box in total.

As above, Konate definitely had his moments of excellent, but it was Virgil van Dijk who was the supreme performer – the Dutch captain simply impassable with his recovery runs, blocks, headers clear and general awareness of play.

They did score, but it’s only the second we’ve conceded in the league in six games. That’s the kind of improvement we can get behind.

 

Top of the league as it starts to take shape

Very early still, true, but six games in is about when the table would start to be published back in the day before pre-season mattered more than global events and every scoreline meant the end of the world or the start of a dynasty.

And Liverpool are top of the Premier League.

Far from struggling to deal with taking over from Jurgen Klopp, Arne Slot has done much right so far and if not everything is perfect, nor should we expect it to be.

One shock result aside which we quickly learned lessons from, it’s all going swimmingly so far, though of course bigger tests lie ahead.

For now we can enjoy the sight of the league table, as attention turns once more to Europe in the week ahead.