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Craig Dawson scored on his debut following his January move from West HamLiverpool's torrid season continued as they slumped to defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers, who boosted their Premier League survival hopes with a big victory.
The Reds were aiming to avoid losing a third successive Premier League away match for the first time since 2012, but fell behind after just five minutes when Hwang Hee-chan's cross deflected off Joel Matip into the Liverpool net.
It got worse for Jurgen Klopp's side just seven minutes later as poor defending allowed Craig Dawson to mark his debut with a goal, driving in from close range.
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Liverpool managed just one shot on target in a dreadful first-half display, but came out with more fight after the break.
Andy Robertson had a goalbound shot blocked and Mohamed Salah clipped a decent effort just wide of the post, before Darwin Nunez drove straight at Jose Sa as Wolves dropped further back.
But the hosts soaked up the pressure before hitting their opponents on the counter-attack, Ruben Neves finishing after great work by Adama Traore.
Victory moves Wolves out of the relegation zone up to 15th, while Liverpool remain 10th.
Liverpool's woes continue
After taking the Premier League title race to the final day last season, few could have predicted the level of drop-off in Liverpool's performances.
The Reds started the day 21 points off the top of the table having yet to taste victory in the Premier League in 2023.
A solid draw against Chelsea in their last league outing showed promise, but their performance in the first half of this game was as bad as they have produced in this hugely disappointing campaign.
Fabinho had been dropped by Klopp as he looked to stop the rot, but few of the starting XI emerged from the first 45 minutes with much credit and looked lethargic.
The Reds were better after the break, but by then the damage was done and this latest away defeat leaves them clinging on to a place in the top half of the table.
Wolves boost survival hopes with big win
Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui has done a good job of righting a sinking ship since he was appointed at the start of November, taking them off the bottom of the table and out of the relegation zone.
They had dropped back in following Everton's surprise win against leaders Arsenal earlier on Saturday, but responded with a hugely impressive performance that will give their fans real belief they can pull clear of the drop zone.
Wolves played with energy and confidence, while Lopetegui has resolved the scoring issues that plagued them early in the season and they looked a constant threat outside Liverpool's slight revival in the first 20 minutes of the second half.
With games against relegation rivals Southampton and Bournemouth up next, this win gives them a huge opportunity to pull clear of trouble.
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Wolverhampton Wanderers
Squad number1Player nameJosé Sá
Squad number22Player nameNélson Semedo
Squad number15Player nameDawson
Squad number23Player nameKilman
Squad number3Player nameAït-Nouri
Squad number11Player nameHwang Hee-chan
Squad number8Player nameRúben Neves
Squad number5Player nameLemina
Squad number27Player nameMatheus Nunes
Squad number21Player nameSarabia
Squad number12Player nameMatheus Cunha
Squad number9Player nameJiménez
Squad number10Player nameDaniel Podence
Squad number19Player nameJonny
Squad number28Player nameJoão Moutinho
Squad number37Player nameTraoré
Liverpool
Squad number1Player nameAlisson
Squad number66Player nameAlexander-Arnold
Squad number32Player nameMatip
Squad number2Player nameGomez
Squad number26Player nameRobertson- Squad number8Player nameKeïta
- Squad number43Player nameBajcetic
- Squad number6Player nameThiago Alcántara
Squad number11Player nameMohamed Salah- Squad number27Player nameNúñez
- Squad number18Player nameGakpo
Squad number7Player nameMilner
Squad number14Player nameHenderson
Squad number15Player nameOxlade-Chamberlain- Squad number19Player nameElliott
- Squad number21Player nameTsimikas
Line-ups
Wolves
Formation 4-4-2
- 1Sá
- 22Nélson Semedo
- 15DawsonBooked at 45mins
- 23Kilman
- 3Aït-NouriSubstituted forCastro Ottoat 84'minutes
- 11Hwang Hee-chanSubstituted forTraoréat 42'minutes
- 8Neves
- 5LeminaSubstituted forPodenceat 83'minutes
- 27Nunes
- 21SarabiaSubstituted forJoão Moutinhoat 60'minutes
- 12Santos Carneiro Da CunhaSubstituted forJiménezat 60'minutes
Substitutes
- 4Collins
- 9Jiménez
- 10Podence
- 19Castro Otto
- 25Bentley
- 28João Moutinho
- 37Traoré
- 59Hodge
- 64Bueno
Liverpool
Formation 4-3-3
- 1Alisson
- 66Alexander-Arnold
- 32Matip
- 2GomezBooked at 75mins
- 26RobertsonSubstituted forTsimikasat 86'minutes
- 8KeïtaSubstituted forHendersonat 65'minutes
- 43BajceticSubstituted forElliottat 77'minutes
- 6Thiago AlcántaraSubstituted forMilnerat 85'minutes
- 11Salah
- 27Núñez
- 18GakpoSubstituted forOxlade-Chamberlainat 85'minutes
Substitutes
- 7Milner
- 14Henderson
- 15Oxlade-Chamberlain
- 17Jones
- 19Elliott
- 21Tsimikas
- 28Carvalho
- 47Phillips
- 62Kelleher
Referee:Paul Tierney
Attendance:31,664
Live Text
Match ends, Wolverhampton Wanderers 3, Liverpool 0.
Second Half ends, Wolverhampton Wanderers 3, Liverpool 0.
Corner, Wolverhampton Wanderers. Conceded by James Milner.
Corner, Liverpool. Conceded by Maximilian Kilman.
Attempt blocked. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Liverpool) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Konstantinos Tsimikas.
Attempt missed. Raúl Jiménez (Wolverhampton Wanderers) right footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Adama Traoré with a through ball following a fast break.
Corner, Liverpool. Conceded by Craig Dawson.
Substitution, Liverpool. Konstantinos Tsimikas replaces Andrew Robertson.
Substitution, Liverpool. James Milner replaces Thiago.
Substitution, Liverpool. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain replaces Cody Gakpo.
Attempt blocked. Harvey Elliott (Liverpool) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Joël Matip.
Substitution, Wolverhampton Wanderers. Jonny replaces Rayan Aït-Nouri.
Substitution, Wolverhampton Wanderers. Daniel Podence replaces Mario Lemina because of an injury.
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
Delay in match because of an injury Mario Lemina (Wolverhampton Wanderers).
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
Delay in match because of an injury Mario Lemina (Wolverhampton Wanderers).
Attempt missed. Raúl Jiménez (Wolverhampton Wanderers) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the left. Assisted by Maximilian Kilman following a fast break.
Substitution, Liverpool. Harvey Elliott replaces Stefan Bajcetic.
Offside, Wolverhampton Wanderers. Maximilian Kilman tries a through ball, but Raúl Jiménez is caught offside.
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