WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS VS. LIVERPOOL
| Tuesday, March 2nd |
Premier League | Molineux
8:15PM BST/3:15PM EST
Wolves are firmly at the bottom of the table, but have caused some problems lately for Liverpool’s competitors. They come into this first match of the week’s Molineux double-header having just beat Aston Villa 2-0 and having recently come back to draw 2-2 with league leaders Arsenal. They’re bottom, but they’re playing far better than their league position suggests, and perhaps are playing with a level of freedom that comes with giving up on the relegation dog fight.
Hee-chan Hwang has returned to fitness ahead of this one, so Rob Edwards, unlike his Liverpool counterpart, has a fully fit squad ahead of Tuesday’s kick-off.
Tolu Arokodare is the leading scorer for Wolves with five goals this season, and will want to challenge Liverpool — particularly given that Hwang’s creativity in the build-up is available once again.
The headline player for Wolves at this juncture is the English teenager Mateus Mané, who is a delight to watch and a challenge to defend against. The 18-year-old has brought quite a bit of fun to the Molineux crowd, who have been in relatively good form despite the certainty of relegation. He will need to be nullified should Liverpool hope to take three points (and FA Cup progression) back to Merseyside this week.
Predicted Liverpool Lineup (4-3-3)
Alisson; Jones, Konaté, Van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Szoboszlai, Mac Allister; Salah, Ekitiké, Gakpo
Arne Slot has a weird (and perhaps tricky) week, playing the same opponents twice on odd days this week before going into the early window of the Champions League next week. We once again open with questions around the right back, as this could come a bit too soon to try to get Jeremie Frimpong on for a full 90 minutes (or perhaps even 60 minutes). Playing Joe Gomez again so soon is always a risk, and Gomez might well be saved for either Friday’s FA Cup version of this fixture or next week’s trip to Galatasaray.
Should that be the case, Dominik Szoboszlai could be a right back option again, but Curtis Jones would be coming in fresh should be be selected for this one, and with Florian Wirtz still unavailable through injury we can expect one of the former two to be necessary to the attack in midfield.
Slot’s selection will have the strange circumstances in mind, which make this match feel like something of a chess match when it comes to approach. It’s a challenge to play a team twice in a row, and the Liverpool head coach has the interesting opportunity to try for three points on Tuesday night but also will want to gain an advantage for the Friday match. Though Liverpool are challenged by fitness and availability, the strength of squad should nonetheless be higher for those in Red. As such, substitutions, approach, and tiredness all may have a part to play — given that Liverpool aren’t stuck trying to pull something back yet. Put another way: having control in this one could be a benefit for more than just the 90+ minutes we play on Tuesday.
The Reds have won their last two Premier League away (both 1-0s, but with the performances varying greatly between that at Sunderland and that at Nottingham Forest). Regardless of the outcome here, these two wins on the bounce are as many wins as Liverpool managed in the previous 10 — and Liverpool haven’t won three on the bounce away since October 2024 in the Premier League.
Of the two sides, Liverpool are more accustomed to playing this often in a seven day period (for this particular set of matches, it’s two games in four days). Though the repeated fixture is a novelty, hopefully Liverpool’s experience will shine through the circumstances.
The Managers Have Their Say
Arne Slot: “The only difference indeed is between playing each other in such short notice is that it’s twice on their ground, where usually when you play in Europe you once have a home and an away game. But it is the situation we are facing now and maybe the only person where it’s helpful for is our analysts and myself, because usually you watch a lot of games from the opponent. Now, we’ve done this before this one but before the next one we probably focus mainly on one game and that’s the one of tomorrow. So it saves me a bit of time, maybe, in the upcoming days.”
Rob Edwards: “In the Premier League, anyone on their day can give anyone a run for their money and anyone a game. We are showing that at the moment, but this is a different game now. It’s a different game to when we played them last time, it’s a different game to Friday night. To threaten these teams and to compete, we have to be at our best. Liverpool are obviously the current champions, they’re an amazing football club, so we know the size of the task – everything that we had on Friday, we’re going to need and more. They’re winning games, and that’s a sign of a good team, whether you’re at your best or not. They’ve had a lot going on at that football club and some change with new players coming in as well. They’re looking strong as the season is getting to the really crucial stage. Every game for them now is about winning, whether it’s about Champions League qualification or winning trophies, that’s what they’re used to doing. We’re preparing for the best of them over these next two games, and I’m sure that’s what we’ll get.”
Referee: Tom Bramall Assistants: Gary Beswick, Adam Nunn Fourth official: Adam Herczeg VAR: Tim Wood Assistant VAR: Wade Smith
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