Familiar faces lined up against one another on the field and in the dugouts at Anfield on Wednesday, as Liverpool and Wolves met for the fourth time in 2023 already, with the West Midlands side seeking to emulate their exhilarating 3-0 success over the Reds from a few weeks ago.
However, lightning would not strike twice for Lopetegui’s bottom-half battlers, who were handed a reprieve when Darwin Nunez’s opener was ruled out for a foul by Diogo Jota on Max Kilman, but Liverpool continued their assault and netted quickfire strikes through Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah in the final 20 minutes.
With a lack of consistency and ruthlessness still plaguing them, Wolves have taken just one point from the last nine on offer in the Premier League and are in danger of being dragged deeper into the relegation dogfight, occupying 15th place in the table and sitting just three points clear of the drop zone.
Lopetegui made no bones about his side’s below-par second-half showing at Anfield – claiming that his side “did not deserve anything” from the game – but an intriguing pattern of home form serves as reason for optimism for the disgruntled Molineux faithful.
Indeed, Wolves have followed a pattern of winning one then losing one at home in their last six matches in all tournaments, and with their most recent Molineux encounter ending in a 1-0 loss to Bournemouth, Tottenham can prepare for another miserable away day if the footballing omens work against them.
a tale as old as time, another shot at domestic cup glory has gone begging for Tottenham Hotspur, who are now seemingly destined to end another season without bolstering their silverware cabinet courtesy of a dampening defeat at Bramall Lane.
Once again led by Cristian Stellini as Antonio Conte observed from the comfort of his Italian home, a much-changed and lacklustre Spurs succumbed to Iliman Ndiaye’s winner with 79 minutes on the clock, ending Stellini’s perfect record as an interim manager and closing off another avenue to a long-awaited trophy.
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Spurs could still be battling for FA Cup supremacy had an illness-affected Harry Kane not sent a header wide with a gilt-edged chance in the dying embers, and the imminent reunion with Conte – who is expected to return to Hotspur Way later this week – will not be one filled with elation following their Sheffield suffering.
On a brighter note, seeing off a humdrum Chelsea side 2-0 last weekend cemented Tottenham’s place in the top four of the Premier League table – four points clear of Newcastle United, who have two games in hand – but Conte’s crop have now lost each of their last three away matches and have little time to recuperate before their next road trip.
Tottenham eked out a 1-0 win over Wolves when the two sides met in North London back in August, and not since 2010 have the Lilywhites left Molineux with a defeat to their name, also posting a 1-0 triumph on West Midlands soil last term thanks to a spot kick from the forgotten man, Dele Alli.
