Analysis: Wolves

Nuno Espirito Santo set his Wolves team up in a 3-5-2 formation, with Diogo Jota supporting Raul Jimenez in attacking areas. As Liverpool dominated the early possession, however, the hosts were forced to prioritise moments of transition, sending direct balls into Jimenez or in behind the full-backs for the more mobile Jota to latch on to. A lack of supporting runners often meant they struggled to penetrate the final third, however.

Should Wolves regain possession in Liverpool’s half, or high in their own, then Jota’s new positioning between Liverpool’s youngsters in the back line – the injured Dejan Lovren was replaced early by 16-year-old Ki-Jana Hoever – soon became the most effective forward passing option. Liverpool right-back Rafael Camacho was often too keen on man-marking left wing-back Ruben Vinagre, which increased the space for Jota to receive one-on-one against Hoever. Wolves could now build their transitions more effectively, with Jota afforded more time on the ball, to let supporting runners join the attack.

Hoever worked to get tighter on to Jota, who in response dropped towards the ball within the inside channel. As Liverpool squeezed up to press the forward as he received, this acted as the trigger for blindside forward runs from Vinagre on the left. Despite both the passes and Vinagre’s runs being well-timed, Wolves couldn’t quite connect with their final balls in the attacking third.

It was as a result of the Wolves forwards dropping deeper in a mid-block that the hosts took the lead late in the first half. The front pair could now help Joao Moutinho in pressing Liverpool’s deepest midfielder, James Milner, whose loss of possession from a poor Alberto Moreno pass saw Jimenez skip clear of a last-ditch Fabinho tackle and drive calmly past Simon Mignolet.

As the game moved into the second half, more spaces appeared across Liverpool’s more attacking midfield stucture. The hosts made good use of switches of play, and always had maximum width from the positioning of their wing-backs. With Liverpool’s midfield now horizontally stretched for the first time in the game, central midfielder Ruben Neves had time and space to hit a trademark shot from distance to restore Wolves’ lead. The hosts occasionally posed a threat from counter-attacks, but they prioritised holding on to their lead and making the fourth round of the FA Cup.

Out of possession, Wolves initially set up in 5-3-2 mid-block, with both central forwards moving on to Liverpool’s centre-backs. With Milner dropping back to form a three-against-two overload, the visitors dominated possession until the hosts pushed their front line much higher to mark their opponents on the edge of the Liverpool area. This forced Mignolet into more direct balls forward, which a physical Wolves defence were able to deal with comfortably – although the midfield trio of Moutinho, Neves and Leander Dendoncker were at times unable to match the intensity of Liverpool’s midfield in regaining second balls.

The momentum of the game changed late in the first half, when Wolves moved back into the deeper mid-block mentioned above and their forwards dropped on to Milner rather than the Liverpool centre-backs. This led to the game’s opening goal and, despite Liverpool’s equaliser early in the second half, the swiftness of Neves’ strike enabled them to drop into the consistent low block from which they saw the game out.