Liverpool vs Wolves Betting Tips (10/09/22) – Reds Must Bounce Back from Nightmare in Naples

It’s a game that Liverpool fans present will forever remember as the nightmare in Naples. Be under no illusions, the 1-4 scoreline did not flatter Napoli as they laid siege to the Reds’ goal in their Champions League clash on Wednesday evening, and it would not be unjust to suggest that the Italians could and perhaps should have scored more.

Liverpool were hopelessly outclassed, with the midfield trio of Fabinho, James Milner and Harvey Elliott offering little to no protection for the shaky back four behind them – Joe Gomez in particular was given a torrid time by Napoli’s fluid attacking play before being hauled off at half time.

The Italians hit the post and scored a penalty within the opening five minutes, and they also missed another spot kick, had Alisson to thank for a string of excellent saves and needed Virgil van Dijk to clear another net-bound shot off the line in a hapless opening half from the Reds.

Napoli were 4-0 up by the 47th minute, and while Liverpool did manage to find a consolation goal through Luis Dias, there was really very little to cheer in what was one of the worst Liverpool performances in quite some time.

The only positives, and this is clutching at straws, are that Thiago and Diogo Jota came on for half-hour cameos in the second half as they battle back from injury, while Reds fans also got a first glimpse of Arthur Melo in a late substitutes’ appearance.

But, all things considered, this was another wretched night in an increasingly dismal season for Jurgen Klopp’s men, and they simply have no alternative but to bounce back with a win against Wolves on Saturday afternoon.

Liverpool Team News

Klopp will make changes to his starting eleven against Wolves – he simply has no other choice.

Gomez’s race is run for now, you expect, with Joel Matip providing a little more in the way of calm and poise alongside Van Dijk in the middle of the defence.

The various midfield combinations used lately simply haven’t worked, and so Klopp will surely have to throw Thiago in at the deep end – he will likely join Fabinho and Elliott in midfield.

The Reds continue to lack fluency in attack, and Klopp might even be thinking the unthinkable – dropping Mo Salah and bringing Jota in instead. Maybe not yet, but the Egyptian certainly has to rediscover the joie de vivre in his football that has been so clearly lacking so far this term.

There’s a straight choice between Bobby Firmino and Darwin Nunez in attack, with the latter likely to be unleashed on Wolves in a must-win game.

Wolves Form

If you ever find yourself stuck at a party with Wolves boss Bruno Lage, you might be well served to make yourself scarce.

The Portuguese head coach has turned the Midlanders into one of the most miserly, joyless teams in the Premier League, and he has proven that the 2021/22 season – in which his team’s games saw just 81 goals in total, the lowest in the division – was no fluke so far this term.

Wolves have scored just three goals in their six outings to date, but given that they have only conceded four their formline reads an okay-ish W1 D3 L2.

However, they have only played one of the ‘big six’ so far, and suffered a 0-1 loss against Tottenham.

Liverpool vs Wolves Betting Tips

It’s a funny thing to say, but Wolves are the perfect opponents for Liverpool right now.

They will offer very little going forward at Anfield, and that will help take some of the pressure off the Reds’ beleaguered backline.

The game will instead be played in the Wolves half of the pitch, and while Liverpool’s attacking play hasn’t quite been on song so far this term they continue to serve up impressive xG numbers – suggesting the 9-0 win over Bournemouth, while a freak result, wasn’t that surprising.

At odds of around 2/7, the bookmakers aren’t convinced that Liverpool aren’t in as bad a place as some of their results suggest, and with Wolves very much a back-foot team we’d be inclined to agree that the Reds will find a way to win this game.

But they may have to do things the hard way, and so we’ll be going in with the Liverpool to Win and Both Teams to Score (No) angle at 21/20.

And that’s a concept you can take further by Dutching the Reds to win 1-0 and 2-0 at 8/1 and 13/2 respectively.