Anfield bids farewell to a legend, so as the Kop rises for Jürgen Klopp one last time, will they have a win over Wolves to celebrate?
Liverpool vs Wolverhampton Wanderers match preview
For the 491st and final time, Jürgen Klopp will take charge of Liverpool, so those on Merseyside need to brace themselves for an emotional afternoon.
Klopp’s tenure delivered eight major trophies, including a Champions League and club’s first league title for 30 years, but he means more to these supporters than just the silverware hoisted aloft.
Reds around the world were hoping this would be a day to celebrate even more success, but the fact their side have won only two of their last seven Premier League games has seen those dreams dashed.
Monday night’s 3-3 thriller at Villa Park, leading 3-1 with five minutes to play, Cody Gakpo and Jarell Quansah amongst the goals, was a timely microcosm of just how exciting a Klopp team can be.
This season did deliver EFL Cup success at Wembley, even if that feels a very long time ago now, and Liverpool will be back in the Champions League, providing new head coach Arne Slot solid foundations on which to build.
Lost in all the Klopp-based narrative, a football match will actually be played and Wolverhampton Wanderers a more than capable of playing the role of party-poopers.
Many were tipping the Old Gold for relegation when Julen Lopetegui resigned on the eve of the season, but Gary O’Neil has done remarkably well to steady the ship and guide them to mid-table serenity, currently 13th, in exactly the same position but five points better off than 12 months ago.
However, since the March international break, Wolves’ form has been poor, winning only once and losing six of nine outings, defeated 3-1 by Crystal Palace in the denouement to their Molineux campaign last Saturday.
Nevertheless, this is a team who’ve beaten Man City, Tottenham twice and Chelsea twice, while a shock victory here would take Wolves up to 49 points, a tally they’ve only bettered in the top division on three occasions since 1981.
Having said that, mainly for pure narrative reasons alone, we cannot see anything other than a comfortable Liverpool victory.
Liverpool vs Wolverhampton Wanderers Tips
Liverpool have won ten of their last 12 encounters with Wolves while, at Anfield, the Reds have claimed victory in 19 of their 23 meetings since 1970, with the Wanderers’ most-recent victory coming in an FA Cup tie as a Championship club under Paul Lambert in 2017, a few months into Jürgen Klopp’s tenure.
They met on the final day two seasons ago and, despite an early Pedro Neto goal, the Reds roared back to win 3-1.
Including that one, both teams have scored in three of their last six encounters, so we’re forecasting another high scoring fixture.
On top of this, Wolves’ 16 Premier League fixtures since the start of February have witnessed 52 goals, an average of 3.25 per 90, with both teams scoring in ten of them.
Meantime, both teams have scored in 11 of Liverpool’s 15 matches since 7 March, games that have produced a whopping 60 goals, an average of exactly four goals per 90.
Most would agree Mohamed Salah has not been at his best this season, but his goal against Tottenham a fortnight ago took his tally to 25 for the campaign, an average of a goal every 121 minutes, which isn’t too bad.
17 of these goals have been scored at Anfield, while four of the Egyptian’s five goals against Wolves have also been scored on Merseyside, a tally we’re backing him to add to by scoring more than once here.
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