FA Cup 2018/19: Wolves vs Liverpool

At Etihad Stadium last Thursday, Liverpool suffered their first defeat of the Premier League season against fellow title contenders Manchester City, ending a 20-match league unbeaten streak. They were looking to rebound from this loss in an FA Cup third round tie against Wolves, and regain their momentum upon return to league play.

Line-ups

In the midst of a claustrophobic time in the schedule and with a glut of injuries to the squad, Jurgen Klopp opted to start a number of young players and back-ups. Amongst those were two debutants in Rafa Camacho and Curtis Jones. Ki-Jana Hoever would come off the bench early on for Dejan Lovren to become the third. This was of course risky, but it provided many key players like Virgil van Dijk, Andrew Robertson, and Sadio Mané some much needed rest. In total, the German manager made nine total changes to the starting XI.

Nuno Espirito Santo on the other hand sent out a full-strength starting XI, choosing to continue with the back-three system he has been utilising all season. The Portuguese manager has guided Wolves to ninth spot in the table after winning four of their last seven league matches, including a 3-1 win against Tottenham Hotspur. One of those seven matches however was a 2-0 loss to Liverpool at Molineux Stadium.

Camacho, James Milner, and poor build-up

Klopp’s organization of the starting lineup in a 4-4-2 formation suggested he wanted to have a defensively sturdy team. There were a number of reasons this failed however, one of them being a lack of discipline from the right-back Camacho. Although he is most frequently a winger, his movements in defence were at times too brash. This left the right side of Liverpool’s backline open for the opponent.

While some of Camacho’s intercepting runs were well-timed and with pace, they often left him too high up the pitch. Here, Camacho’s pass was too far behind Origi, and as a result was easily intercepted.

Camacho’s positioning left Vinagre with plenty of space ahead of him, forcing Camacho’s teammates to attempt to cover it. Another problem Liverpool had at the back was in the build-up of possession. With Lovren subbed off early due to injury, the 16-year-old Hoever was thrust into the match.