Relegation-threatened Wolverhampton Wanderers humiliated Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool on Saturday with a 3-0 win over the misfiring Reds, who are yet to win in the Premier League this year.
Wolves cut through Liverpool’s shaky defence from the off, missing two good chances before a Hwang Hee-Chan cutback went in off the heel of Joel Matip for a fifth-minute own goal.
Minutes later, Wolves debutant Craig Dawson lashed in the second, unmarked from close range after the ball bounced off Cody Gakpo in another spell of sloppy defending by the visitor.
A fired-up Liverpool started the second half strongly, but Ruben Neves effectively ended the contest in the 71st minute, controlling then prodding the ball in at the end of a scintillating counter-attack from the home side.
Defeat left Liverpool 10th on 29 points after a terrible start to 2023 in which it has won just one of seven matches - against Wolves in the F.A. Cup - in all competitions.
Miserable stats
After coming close to a historic quadruple last season, where it won two domestic cups and was runner-up in both the Champions League and Premier League, Klopp’s injury-hit and confidence-shorn team is a shadow of its former self.
The result was the first time in a decade that Liverpool has lost three consecutive Premier League away games. It has conceded more goals in the Premier League this season - 28 in 21 games - than it did in the whole of last season.
Victory eased Wolves’ fears of a drop to the second-tier Championship, lifting the side to 15th position on 20 points, two ahead of the bottom three, and left its ecstatic fans serenading every touch in the final minutes as Liverpool players hung their heads.
“We love super Lopetegui,” the Molineux crowd sang to their Spanish manager Julen Lopetegui.
Liverpool’s miserable-looking German manager Klopp, meanwhile, had to endure what for him is an unaccustomed taunt: “You’re getting sacked in the morning”.
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