Analysis: Wolves

Nuno Espirito Santo set Wolves up in a variation of a 3-2-3-2/3-4-1-2 formation, which was dependent on how high wing-backs Matt Doherty and Jonny played. Romain Saiss and Ruben Neves played in front of the back three, while Joao Moutinho played in a more advanced role just behind forwards Raul Jimenez and Adama Traore.

Wolves were limited to just 39 per cent possession through the game, but they tried to attack in a couple of different ways. One was to utilise the positioning of their wing-backs to draw Liverpool full-backs James Milner or Andy Robertson out and create bigger spaces between the Liverpool defenders. One of their deeper players or forwards could then make penetrative runs through those gaps and in on Alisson in the Liverpool goal.

Alternatively, and this was largely forced upon them as a result of Liverpool’s high press, they would send the ball directly from the defenders to the forwards and aim to win the second ball – but this led to extremely limited success. Wolves did try to play out from the back, but they found their back three matched up and passes into their two central midfielders heavily screened. Doherty and Jonny were also under close attention from Robertson and Milner – the result was that Wolves could never work an overload and thus playing out became more risky than was comfortable for them.

Out of possession, the hosts operated in a 5-2-3 shape, with Moutinho joining Traore and Jimenez on the top line while Jonny and Doherty tucked in alongside the back three to create a defensive line of five. Wolves tried to press Liverpool, with Jimenez and Traore closing down Virgil van Dijk and Dejan Lovren; Moutinho played between Fabinho and Jordan Henderson and tried to affect both, but this proved difficult and Liverpool often just played around him.

As Liverpool regularly dropped players deep and the Wolves wing-backs weren’t keen to push high up the pitch, the hosts often found themselves with a back line of five defending against only two Liverpool players – which was secure but inefficient. The knock-on effect was that Liverpool were able to create small overloads in earlier phases of the Wolves press, and thus progress up towards goal comfortably. The hosts never really adjusted their press to improve efficiency, and so were regularly played through.

Wolves’ other defensive strategy was to defend in a mid-block and force Liverpool backwards and sideways while waiting for them to make a mistake. The difference in Moutinho’s role here was that he formed part of the front three in the mid-block rather than trying to affect Fabinho and Henderson in the higher press. In either shape, however, the hosts struggled to consistently put enough pressure on a Liverpool side that are looking stronger by the week.