Liverpool vs Wolves Player Ratings: A One-goal Lead Gave The Mighty Reds Three Important Points

The table topper hosted Wolves in the 16th February 2025 fixture at Anfield after their controversial draw against the Toffees in the last Merseyside Derby in Goodison Park. The match ended in a 2-1 scoreline with goals from Diaz, Salah, and Cunha. With this win, Liverpool are remained 7 points clear from the Gunners and 13 points clear from Nottingham Forest. On the other hand, even after the defeat, Wolves are just 2 points away from the relegation zone. While the game began with Liverpool domination, it ended with them defending the game.

The game started with intent from the home side as they were aggressive from the get-go. Even though Pereira’s Wolves are not to sit back and contain, Liverpool’s starting minutes had the visitors in the backseat.

Back to business as usual for the Reds as the 15th minute saw the first goal of the match as Diaz guided the ball in the net rather fortunately as Mo was unable to control the ball. However, the one goal was just not enough as Liverpool went back to intense pressing to get the second one.

There were multiple times when Liverpool almost got the second one due to sloppy defense from the travelling team. But the away team rather changed the tempo of the game a little as they too started to move forward following the Diaz goal.

The yellow card of Konate saw him stay silent for the rest of the first half. With the record of recent bookings, it seemed to be the wise decision.

In the 37th minute, a moment of blunder from Agbadou saw Diaz get away with the ball before being taken out by Sa. It was a penalty! The inevitable happened as the Egyptian King converted the spot kick to give the home team the 2-0 lead.

Safe to say the Reds were the dominating side at the end of the first half with very little of Wolves going forward. It was a controlled approach from Arne Slot’s side that saw less space in the Liverpool defense. By the end of the first half, the host had 54% ball possession in contrast to the 46% of the visitors, but the game told a whole other story.

At the beginning of the 2nd half, Konate was taken off. It was a wise decision to avoid being 10-men in this important fixture. For the visitors, there were two introductions: one was Muntesi the other one was Bellegarde. The game went on with the home fans rather quiet in the beginning of the second half, props to Wolves getting on the aggressive side.

The 64th minute saw the introduction of Nunez and Bradley. These substitutions gave more stability on the back while preserving the attacking options for Liverpool simultaneously giving Nunez more game time. The 72nd minute saw another change as Endo came in for Diaz. With Gravenberch and Endo in the defensive midfield line, Mac Allister was free to go more forward.

The game was under control until the 67th minute when Matheus Cunha scored one back to keep Liverpool on their toes. And with Van Dijk getting a yellow, things were about to be a little sour for the Reds.

The 85th minute saw Nunez and Salah on the defensive duties as there were instructions from the technical line. Liverpool seemed to be losing their cool as the game was inching in towards the end.

There was 6 minute additional time given for the game. As the full time whistle came, it was a 2-1 victory for the Reds. However, the attitude at the later minutes and not having one shot on target from the home team was something not seen often in Liverpool’s play. As per the best player goes, Luis Diaz was the man of the match of Sportsdunia.

Here are the Liverpool vs Wolves Player Ratings.

Liverpool Player Ratings

Goalkeeper

GK- Alisson (5/10)

Pretty relaxing day for the Brazilian. Did not have to make any saves until the 50th minute.

Defenders

RB- Alexander-Arnold (5/10)

Been a little sloppy with his passes and it is nothing new from the right back of Liverpool. He was subbed off in the 2nd half for Bradley.

CB- Konate (5.5/10)

Picked up a pretty immature yellow card while trying to break in the Wolves defense. Kicked the ball out of frustration which would have seen the 2nd yellow as per the refereeing norms of Premier League lately. He was subbed off in the beginning of the first half.

CB- Van Dijk (6.5/10)

A solid presence in the back. With the introduction of Quansah, he didn’t go forward as much as he did in the first half. Overall, commanded the defensive line well.

LB- Robertson (6/10)

Been the system player in the evening especially with his forward runs. However, there were time where he overcommitted himself.

Midfielders

CDM- Gravenberch (6/10)

His way of pulling multiple players towards him to make space for his teammates is phenomenal and it was something that was seen all over in the first 10 minute of the match as the Dutchman opened up pockets of spaces outside the opposition box.

CM- Mac Allister (6/10)

He has been the unsung hero for Liverpool lately. His consistent performance has been overlooked. Today, he was phenomenal as well. With Endo coming in, he had license to go more forward.

RM- Salah (6.5/10)

Rather been quiet in the first half till it was his time to shine. No matter the burden, the shoulders of the Egyptian King was relaxed as he converted the spot kick to add another one in his tally at the 37th minute.

CAM- Szoboszlai (6/10)

His off-the-ball contributions rather go unnoticed. Been the engine of the team throughout the game today as well.

LM- Diaz (6.5/10)

Scored the first goal of the match. It all started with Jota for getting the best out of the Wolves defenders to let Diaz run with the ball from the flanks. After Salah’s misfortune the ball only needed to be guided past Sa. He was Sportsdunia’s man of the match.

Forwards

ST- Jota (6/10)

If only he didn’t had to deal with so many injuries, he would be the best man in the front line for the Reds. And today, he showed the glimpse of his quick thinking and awareness in the pitch. Made a couple shots himself but none of them went in the net in the first half an hour.

Manager

Arne Slot (5/10)

Seemed happy his team had a lot of control in the game. Still has the bitter taste of the Everton fixture.

Substitutions

CB- Quansah (4/10)

Came in the 45th minute to be afresh addition in the defense line. Settled well with Van Dijk. Made a deciding challenge that saved Liverpool from conceding.

ST- Nunez (4/10)

Came in the 64th minute to preserve Jota while having some much-needed game time.

RB- Bradley (4.5/10)

Came in for Trent. The Scouser had an average performance, no wonder Slot wanted to make the change. The Northern Irishman defended well for the rest of the match.

CDM- Endo (4.5/10)

Came in to give more depth to the midfield. With Gravenberch and Endo in the defensive midfield line, Mac Allister was free to go more forward.

Wolves Player Ratings

Goalkeeper

GK- Sa (4/10)

In both the goals at the first half, there were a lot of things that he could have rather done than the choices he made. He was disappointed in himself with his performance.

Defenders

CB- Gomes (4.5/10)

The 3-man defense from Pereira seemed to be in shambles in the first half. While that was the case in the first half, Gomes and others seemed to pick up their momentum in the 2nd half.

CB- Agbadou (3.5/10)

It was a sloppy performance from the defender as he gave away the ball multiple times. As a defender, you have to stand your ground and be strong, which was been forgotten by him in the 36th minute. He got a yellow in the 39th minute for dissent.

CB- Doherty (4/10)

Had to be present on the defensive duties a lot. Didn’t go forward freely as he would have like. Got booked in the 26th team for decent.

Midfielders

CDM- Ait-Nouri (4.5/10)

Pretty average performance from the midfielder. Seemed out of ideas any time he had the ball.

CM- Gomes (4/10)

In terms of passes, Wolves were not far behind and a large part goes to Gomes for helping the team to build up even in times of strong press from the Reds.

CM- Andre (4/10)

Seemed to have his midfield in control in the latter minutes of the second half. But it was a whole another story in the first half.

CDM- Semedo (3.5/10)

A rather lazy performance from the Portuguese. While his tracking back was nowhere to be seen in the first half, he understood his mistakes in the 2nd half.

CM- Sarabia (4/10)

The Spanish midfielder seemed to be out of his touch in the first half. No doubt, he was the 2nd player to get off at the beginning of the second half.

CAM- Cunha (5/10)

He seemed to be the biggest threat for the Liverpool. And the inevitable happened when he scored the first goal for his team to get one back for his team.

Forwards

ST- Guedes (3.5/10)

Seemed invisible in the first half. Barely got any quality balls. He was subbed off in the beginning in the first half.

Manager

Pereira (3.5/10)

It was clear that the coach’s expectations were not met. However, he was happy how his team got back up in the second half.

Substitutions

CDM- Muntesi (4/10)

Came in at the beginning of the 2nd half to make some changes in the game.

CM- Bellegrade (4.5/10)

Came along with Muntesi in the 2nd half. The idea was to be more offensive with their game.

CB- Beuno (4.5/10)

Came in to save the team from going 10 men. Had a better presence in the team.

CM- Doyle (3.5/10)

Came in for Joao Gomes in the 83rd minute. It was a like-for-like switch with Joao Gomes in midfield.

RB- Lima (3.5/10)

Came on in the 90th minute. He was the last substitution made by Pereira.