On-the-whistle analysis from Molineux as Liverpool are beaten 2-1 by the Premier League's bottom side Wolves
Arne Slot saw his side lose 2-1 at Wolves
Arne Slot saw his side lose 2-1 at Wolves(Image: AP)
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This was a game that bore every single hallmark of what has held Liverpool back in a season that has been stretched so grotesquely out of shape.
The Premier League champions - which an adjective the Reds only now hear about as a precursor for their shortcomings these days - started slowly and meandered their way through an ordinary first half. Check.
They failed to create anything of note and were caught with what represented their opposition's first real attack. Check.
A late rally, the break out of something finally resembling entertainment for the neutral and the introduction of an attacking player for a centre-back before the football match descended into a basketball game. Check.
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And then the coup de grâce, the hot-iron branding of Liverpool's 25/26: a winning goal scored in stoppage time to confirm a defeat for Arne Slot and his players. Check. Check Check.
Seven times now the Reds have dropped points from goals scored after 90 minutes and this one was perhaps the most ignominious yet, against the Premier League's rock-bottom side who have moved up to a paltry 16 points with this 2-1 victory here.
But in truth, Slot got what he deserved here. Once more, a ponderous first half, devoid of imagination or creativity, passed without incident and by the time substitute Rodrigo Gomes had clipped over Alisson Becker, Liverpool had just 12 minutes to pull it out the fire once more.
Why did it take this long for the visitors to be shocked into life? "We were slow, predictable and sloppy in our decision-making," admitted Virgil van Dijk. "There's not one reason why it's the case [we start slow]. We, as a team, we want to start as well as we can. It is what it is, we have to move quickly on. We have to show a reaction."
Slot insisted earlier this week that the season-long habit of laborious starts is not due to the approach of he, his staff or his players but it is the common denominator that runs throughout each and every one of those fixtures.
Those who still seek to extol the virtues of this Liverpool will say it is only their third defeat of 21 games but that will pull no wool over the eyes of long-time observers. This season has been desperate. Nine league defeats tells its own story, it's nearly a third of what has been played to date.
It was just the second time in 19 that Liverpool have failed to beat Wolves in the Premier League. That previous loss, three years ago, came in a campaign that saw the Reds fail to secure qualification to the Champions League. This defeat, with nine left to play now, may lead to similar ramifications for Slot.
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