Liverpool do enough to see the docile of Wolves in their FA Cup replay

Liverpool did enough to beat Wolves in the FA Cup third round, and after their scorching time at Brighton, that may be all Jurgen Klopp really needed .

Jurgen Klopp arrived in the Black Country for an unwelcome FA Cup third round replay against Wolves with a lot on his mind. Some have recently started taking shots at the previously bulletproof Liverpool manager, and with six defeats in their first eighteen Premier League games of the season (which is definitely some form of mid-table) and even to return to the Champions League, they begin to feel distant. – they are ten points behind fourth place – the pressure is starting to mount.

It was certainly a game Klopp probably could have done without - he's already railed about FA Cup replays - and it came at about the worst possible time. There haven't been too many worse performances at Liverpool in recent years than they put up at Brighton three days earlier, and that's down to an equally pale defeat at Brentford. And while Wolves have a miserable record against Liverpool in the Premier League, they had already beaten them in the FA Cup in 2017 and 2019 and entered this match healthy, revitalized under new manager Julen Lopetegui, with two wins and a draw. of his first four league games in charge.

Unsurprisingly, changes have been made. Eight from the first game between these two teams and eight from the Brighton debacle, with only Ibrahima Konate, Thiago and Cody Gakpo retaining their places from their previous game. There has been bad luck with injuries, their transfer policy hasn't been great, with two wingers and a striker having been signed when the team's midfield looked badly in need of an overhaul, and the team seems unbalanced. Klopp was doing what he could by revamping his midfield for this game.

Somewhere between what Alan Shearer later described as "Danny Murphy's phone goes dead" (Gary Lineker tweeted that it was an act of sabotage - it turns out he was a silly 'prankster' Lord help us) and the floodlights going out at Molineux seconds into the game, the FA Cup tie between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Liverpool was a bit damn. And whatever your personal opinion of VAR, surely all parties to this debate understand that this is a big change for gamers, who play almost every competitive game under its icy gaze, and for those who watch, who now have several seasons to - like it or not - get used to being reminded of split hair decisions. It came back after about ten minutes. "Crisis" averted.

There was certainly no controversy over Harvey Elliott's opener in the 12th minute. Charging forward from his own half, without any significant challenge and spotting Jose Sa off his line, Elliott sent a perfectly weighted shot at the Wolves goalkeeper and to ease Klopp's mind. The goal had come in large part because of Sa's appalling positioning, but Liverpool had started with far more substance than they had delivered in their previous game and continued to press on throughout the half. against surprisingly light opposition. In short, it wasn't hard to see why Wolves are the worst scorers in the Premier League.

Not everything was pretty. Liverpool committed a series of tactical fouls in midfield with no particular sanction from referee Andre Marriner until more than ten minutes had been played in the second half, when Thiago finally stretched his patience and a yellow card was eventually issued. . But by the time an hour had gone the home side still hadn't had a shot on target, with Adama Traore kicking the ball somewhere in the direction of the city center as the clock passed 60 minutes. Caoimhin Kelleher, in the Liverpool goal for Alisson, was still untested.

But Liverpool didn't quite have the control in the second half that they had in the first. Wolves found a gap down the right twice in the space of thirty seconds, but on neither occasion was a Wolves attacker near his position. A free kick to the edge of the penalty eventually required Kelleher's fingertips, although the referee was unimpressed and gave a goal kick. As the second half wore on, Liverpool seemed to be unraveling around the edges, and they had cause to feel some relief that Wolves were getting so direct when within 30 yards of Liverpool's goal. . With six minutes left, Wolves pounced on Diego Costa – who is looking more and more like a counterfeit Fozzie Bear plushie these days – but to no avail.

Up to a point, it was a game that Jurgen Klopp couldn't quite win. It was ...