Wolves 3-0 Liverpool: Liverpool conceded three goals in a Premier League game for the third time in 2023 on Saturday afternoon. The English analysts are harsh in their assessment of the defence of The Reds. Where the injured Virgil van Dijk is sorely missed.
Van Dijk was injured halfway through the first league game of this year with Brentford. With the Orange captain within the lines, Liverpool was already 2-1 behind at that time, only to lose 3-1. After that, Brighton & Hove Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers were both 3-0 too strong for Jürgen Klopp’s team, who also lost against Brighton in the FA Cup tournament (2-1) in between.
On Saturday, Wolves immediately went wrong twice in the first fifteen minutes. Sky Sports analyst Paul Merson saw that Klopp did not remember it then either. “If you look at the team, they are miles from where they were last year,” said the former Arsenal player. “Joël Matip and Joe Gomez are completely different players without Van Dijk next to them. The backs have lost their way, the midfield is overrun and nobody is scoring a goal in the front.”
Joël Matip and Joe Gomez under fire
If Van Dijk is back in time for the Champions League match with Real Madrid, Merson also sees Liverpool beat Los Blancos. But at the moment he does not see how The Reds want to take points in the Premier League. He asked, “Have they lost their fear factor? A hundred percent. Teams are going for it now. The final phase was truly terrifying. Wolves played the ball around fifty to sixty times, the Liverpool players were nowhere to be seen.”
Former player Jamie Carragher called Liverpool’s defence chaotic on Twitter and also saw that Gomez and Matip were having a hard time without Van Dijk next to them. “It’s not that hard to play as a centre back next to the defence leader. You have to judge centre-backs when they have to take the lead themselves,” Alan Shearer agreed and found it ‘unacceptable’ at the BBC what Gomez and Matip showed at Molineux.
The question is how to proceed at Liverpool. Klopp now has a week to prepare his team for next Monday’s Merseyside Derby against Sean Dyche’s Everton, who was 1-0 too strong for league-leaders Arsenal on his debut on Saturday. After that, duels with Newcastle United and Real Madrid are scheduled. Van Dijk may be back by then, he resumed the (individual) training this week.
