By Jordan Carreno

Matchday 18 has Liverpool headed down to Wolverhampton to take on Wolves. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:00 PM EST on Friday.

Wolves v Liverpool — 12/21/2018 2000 GMT

This is the Reds’ last match before Christmas and with a win they can give all Liverpool fans the gift of being top of the league come Christmas morning. Nothing quite beats unwrapping the kit of the Premier League leaders. This is also our first taste of ‘Friday Night Football’ and gives you the perfect chance to use the Reds to start your weekend early. So, cook up an excuse to get out of the office and come down to one of our three LFC Tampa Bay locations to watch with your fellow Tampa Bay Reds. Now, to the talking points.

Wolf Trap

Wolves have been making quite a name for themselves since coming back into the Premier League for the first time in 6 seasons. Unlike most newly promoted sides that refuse to play football in hopes of clinging to the top-flight, they’ve taken the challenge by the scruff of the neck and have committed themselves to giving it a proper go. So far, Wolves efforts has given them a comfortable place in the top half of the table.

Perhaps the most surprising thing about this Wolves side is how they’ve done against the bigger teams. Against the top six they’ve managed to avoid defeat all but one time. They’ve drawn City, Arsenal, and United, and managed to beat Chelsea 2–1. Their lone defeat to the “top 6” came against Tottenham where, after going 3–0 down, they lost 3–2. In fact, not a single top six side has managed to keep Wolves from scoring against them yet.

A lot of this success comes down to the shrewd business Wolves has done over the past few windows to recruit genuine top class talent. This summer they managed to sign Rui Patricio and Joao Moutinho who were both members of the Euro Championship winning Portugal side. This to go along with already having Ruben Neves, Helder Costa, and Diogo Jota, all promising prospects for Portugal’s future. Wolves also managed to bring in players on loan, like Raul Jimenez and Jonny Castro, who have immediately added to the quality of the side.

Under Nuno Santo, Wolves have a talented squad playing good football - which could cause Liverpool problems

Whilst you might be tempted to think that a match against a newly promoted side might be a walk in the park, a quick glance at the talent and results of this Wolves side would quickly prove otherwise. This match has all the makings of being a banana skin for Jurgen Klopp and the lads if they aren’t careful. Molineux will be rocking and Wolves will be ready to bring the fight to the Reds from the first whistle. Though it may be difficult, at the very least we can all look forward to what should be an entertaining football match.

Tactical Chess

On paper this might look the type of game to roll out the 4–2–3–1 and go toe-to-toe with our opposition. Despite Wolves’ quality and results, Liverpool are ultimately the superior team and should be able to handle their opposition. However, given that Wolves are likely to want to have the ball and come at us themselves, Klopp might look to take advantage of this.

On the surface it may appear that the 4–2–3–1 is the system that Liverpool play against teams “smaller” teams and that the 4–3–3 is reserved for opponents of similar stature. However, Klopp’s preference for either system comes down more to what is expected from the opposition. For example, against Huddersfield earlier on in the season, Jurgen trotted out a 4–3–3 set up, despite the fact that Huddersfield were in the relegation zone, as the Terriers are a side known to play with the ball. Then this weekend Klopp employed a pseudo 4–2–3–1 against United, despite them being a fierce rival, as he knew they would most likely park the bus.

Given that Wolves are likely to want as much of the ball as possible and will be willing to come at Liverpool, Klopp might turn to his more counterattacking 4–3–3 system. With Wolves coming forward, there will be opportunities and space for Liverpool to take advantage of transition. Whilst it isn’t impossible to cease upon these chances in the 4–2–3–1, the 4–3–3 is more suited to these type of matches.

Long gone are the day where Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool were beholden to one system. We now possess the ability to tailor our tactics to our opposition. Rather than forcing ourselves onto the opponent in every single match, we have learned to to adapt to the situation presented to us. This tactical flexibility and shifting is likely to continue Friday night.

Rotating Now or Later?

Jurgen Klopp’s growth as a manger this season includes both tactical and selection flexibility

Another sign of Jurgen Klopp’s growth as a manager this season has been his willingness to rotate. Whereas in the past Jurgen has preached of modern footballer’s abilities to play two games in a week, his tendency to move players in and out of the starting 11 this season speaks to a new mentality for the boss. He has also seemed to move away from the strict meritocracy, where you could only lose a place through poor play or injury, and now sees the value in rotating the squad to keep players fresh and motivated.

Some of this comes down to Jurgen’s new found tactical flexibility, with some players playing better in certain types of systems than others. Some of it could be attributed to the bedding in of new signings and the congested nature of English football’s fixture list. Whatever the cause, Jurgen has learned that rotating the squad, now that he has depth in talent, is part of managing a title challenging side.

Despite the fact that Klopp always preaches that his focus is on the next game only, he must surely be looking at the next cluster of matches and figuring out how and where to rotate. Although there is favorable rest periods between all of our matches up to the Manchester City match on January 3rd, rotating will be necessary to ensure each starting 11 is as fresh as possible.

The most essential part of the team to rotate is the midfield, as that is the area of the pitch where the Reds do most of their dirty work. Even though Fabinho and Keita were both phenomenal against United and it would be disappointing not to see them play, they’ve also featured in the last two, and in Naby’s case 3, starting lineups in the league. Given how immense they have looked, and with their likely to be a switch of systems, it might be wise to switch them out.

Of course the largest call for rotation will be in our attacking third as Xherdan Shaqiri’s impact against United will have many calling for his return to the starting 11. His contributions so far warrant more starting time and he has definitely cemented himself as the fourth attacker in our 4–2–3–1. However, with it being likely we do see a return to the 4–3–3, it might be a case of saving him for a more cautious side like Newcastle on boxing day and utilizing his impact as a substitute on Friday.

There will be a desire to run out all the in-form players and revert back to a meritocracy, but Jurgen knows that a more cerebral and thought out approach to the season is what his side need to challenge to the end. Ultimately, this is why Liverpool have done the business to have a squad with the depth this side has. Keeping as many players fresh as possible deep into the season will ensure this title challenge does not fall flat on its face.

Prediction

We stay in the domestic league this week where Xherdan’s brace should have given me a slight lead again. I picked up two points for correctly predicting Liverpool would score 3 in a win, whilst David only got the one for predicting a victory for the Reds. However, David did correctly predict that Sadio Mane would score a left-footed stunner and for that I will reward him with an extra point. We now sit even on 21 points.

This one should be a very entertaining match. Wolves aren’t going to the park the bus and that should allow for an open game full of opportunities. I suspect the Reds to trot out a 4–3–3 with both James Milner and Jordan Henderson coming in for Keita and Fabinho. I also suspect that we will see Nathaniel Clyne keep his spot at RB and our front three remained unchanged.

I suspect Wolves to give us a real go for the first 15–20 minutes and it is on Liverpool to make sure they don’t find any happiness. Molineux can get rocking if it you allow it, so taking any sting out of the game early will be necessary. The Reds weather the storm and grow into the game before scoring around the 30th minute. From there, we continue to frustrate Wolves and score a few more. Salah gets a hattrick and the Reds get all 3 points. 4–0.

David’s Prediction: I honestly was feeling prophetic when Mane bangs in that left footer, but I never would have seen Alisson going all butter fingers on us to gift United an equalizer. All’s well that ends well, but I don’t suspect that happens two matches in a row. The keeper helps us manage that 15–20 minute spell to start the game as Wolves come out in a rage. The Reds go in at half up 1–0 courtesy of Bobby Firmino cleaning up a rebound. Then the second half is played at a blinding pace with Wolves appearing to click into full gear. They equalize and even pull ahead temporarily before Mo Salah pulls us level with a stunner and James Milner wins it in the final ten minutes to cap off a match that makes Mad Friday live up to its name. 3–2 to the Reds! I’m exhausted just having typed it out, but yes, I expect it to be a pants shitting, absolute blinder of an affair at Molineux and we all have plenty of reason to drink and laugh our way into Friday night.