Wolves put in a valiant performance against Liverpool, however, Jurgen Klopp’s side were simply superior all over the pitch and were good value for their 2-0 win. Some would argue that Matt Doherty should’ve been awarded a penalty not long before the interval. Others would say it would’ve been harsh.
Irrespective of decisions that were or weren’t given, there’s at least something that we can all agree on. Virgil van Dijk is a monster. Adama Traore is the fastest player in world football, according to FIFA, yet VVD managed the Spaniard expertly.
In this tactical analysis, we’ll look at the battle between the aforementioned pairing, Liverpool’s two goals and who knows, maybe something else as a Christmas treat. We shall see.
Team news
Before moving on to the game itself, we shall look at the two starting lineups.
As you can see from above, Moutinho played between the lines, essentially in Gibbs-White’s position while Saiss partnered Neves in the centre of midfield. With the absence of Jota, Adama Traore was selected up top.
It’ll be interesting to see what Nuno does for the game against Fulham as the pairing of Jimenez and Traore wasnt that successful.
Klopp made a couple of changes as Milner came in for Clyne and Henderson replaced Wijnaldum. Mo Salah continued as a central striker and to say he was effective would be a huge understatement.
As the above ratings show, Liverpool had three players rated above eight. Alisson, VVD and Salah. That pretty much sums the game up, those three were a class above and ultimately made the difference.
The art of defending
Traore had a couple of half-chances before Salah put Liverpool in front. VVD marshalled Traore magnificently and rather than diving in, he kept him out wide. Have a look.
Rather than looking at the chance that came about from a poor Fabinho pass, we’ll view the one which should have been right up Traore’s alley to do some damage.
Jimenez does well to bring Traore into the game and because Lovren has pressurised the Mexican, it leaves Traore in a direct duel versus van Dijk. All that needs to be done here is Traore to knock it beyond the Dutchman and then he gets on his bike.
That’s not exactly how it pans out…
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