Wolves suffered their first home league defeat in two months as they lost 1-0 against Liverpool at Molineux. Former Wolves forward Diogo Jota scored on the stroke of half time to earn the Premier League champions three points, but the game was overshadowed by a horrible head injury to Rui Patricio in the closing stages.
Rui Patricio
Would have been slightly disappointed that he failed to stop Jota’s winner, but the disguise on his former teammate’s effort made it difficult to stop. Patricio was barely troubled otherwise, but got behind a couple of speculative Liverpool efforts well in the second half. The football paled into insignificance during his 12 minutes of treatment after a collision with Conor Coady, but at the time of writing it seems Patricio will be ok. We wish him a very speedy recovery. 6/10.
Romain Saiss
Dealt well with Liverpool’s attacking threat on the whole. Stopped Mane from scoring after he rounded Patricio early on, but was drawn to the ball and left Jota alone for his goal. Got his revenge by crunching his former teammate in the second half, and gave Wolves a threat with some useful crosses and long passes. 6/10.
Conor Coady
Another player who will feel he could have prevented Jota’s goal. Coady was drawn out to Mane after Liverpool won the ball back which left acres of space for the Senegal international to pick out Jota on Wolves’ left. Aside from that, Coady was solid defensively and had a much better game than the one he endured at Anfield in December. 6/10.
Willy Boly
Returned to the starting lineup for the first time since the win against Arsenal six weeks ago. After the near-calamitous nature of Leander Dendoncker’s recent performances at centre-back Boly was a welcome introduction to the side, which showed as Wolves allowed just four attempts on their goal. Looked rusty at times in possession, but was otherwise solid. 7/10.
Nelson Semedo
After a shaky start to life at Molineux, Semedo has emerged as one of Wolves’ key men. Was in the thick of the action in the opening five minutes as he was bundled over by Alisson in what looked a stonewall penalty, before brilliantly cutting inside a Liverpool defender only to fire a shot straight at the Brazilian. Was beaten by Mane on occasion, but also held his own against one of the league’s best attackers. 7/10.
Ruben Neves
Wasn’t afraid to do the dirty work in midfield, as could be shown by a cynical trip on Mane midway through the first half, but needed to be more clinical when the chance arose. Neves should have added to his fine goalscoring form in 2021 when Jonny’s cross evaded everyone and fell to him at the far post, but he fired wide. Two minutes later, his mate Jota scored. Fine margins. 7/10.
Joao Moutinho
After a sticky spell through the winter when Moutinho drew his fair share of critics, the 34-year-old looked back to his best against the champions. Moutinho didn’t deserve to be on the losing side as he barely misplaced a pass, created his fair share of chances and won the ball back regularly. Undoubtedly Wolves’ man of the match. 8/10.
Jonny
Had a tough battle against Mohamed Salah, but gave as good as he got. It’s no coincidence that Wolves have looked so much more defensively solid since Jonny has returned, and the Spaniard also gave his side a threat going the other way. Should have had an assist to his name when he, perhaps rather fortunately, picked out Neves late in the first half. 7/10.
Adama Traore
Andy Robertson has previously documented how much he hates playing against Traore, and it was easy to see why. Traore beat Robertson time after time but his crosses were usually off target. Could have broken his assist duck with a good pass to set up Semedo’s early chance, but Alisson denied him. 7/10.
Willian Jose
This was one of Jose’s best appearances in a Wolves shirt, which probably says more about his spell at Molineux rather than his performance on the night. Showed good movement and hold-up play in the first half, which has been a big criticism of his other appearances, but had no goalscoring opportunities despite the fact Wolves were playing on the front foot more often than not. Made the wrong decision in the second half in not passing to an open Neto, and was substituted a few minutes later. Ten games without a goal for the Brazilian now. 6/10.
Pedro Neto
Was unusually anonymous. Wolves preferred to target the right-hand side with Traore against Robertson instead of Neto against Alexander-Arnold, which saw the 21-year-old’s time on the ball limited. It’s hard to know why Neto wasn’t as efficient as he usually is, but it’s also hard to criticise a man who has had such an impressive season at such a young age in a struggling team. 6/10.
Fabio Silva
Replaced Jose on 70 minutes and had a couple of chances, the last of which bounced off his shoulder when any decent contact would have surely given Wolves an equaliser. Set up Gibbs-White with a brilliant flick towards the end of 90 minutes. Has looked sharp in his recent substitute appearances, so it should only be a matter of time before Silva is reintroduced to the starting lineup. 6/10.
Leander Dendoncker
Replaced Neves and returned to midfield for the first time in seven games, where he looks so much more comfortable. 6/10.
Morgan Gibbs-White
Latched onto a brilliant Silva flick and looked to be through on goal, but ran out of steam and was closed down by Liverpool defenders. It’s a struggle to see what he offers over Vitinha. 5/10.
John Ruddy
Replaced Patricio as Wolves’ first ever concussion substitute in the 101st minute, but didn’t have a save to make. N/A
James Wynn is part of the Talking Wolves editorial team – you can follow him on Twitter here.