Overview
The festive atmosphere is enveloping Liverpool, the team that has just extended its winning streak with 3 consecutive victories in all competitions, and for the first time since September won 2 consecutive Premier League matches.
After a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Inter Milan at San Siro in the Champions League, Liverpool continued to defeat Brighton 2-0 at home, before taking all 3 points to leave North London.
At Tottenham Hotspur, midfielder Xavi Simons' red card in the first half was like a decisive turning point, pushing the game completely in favor of Liverpool. The away team broke the deadlock in the 56th minute, when substitute player Alexander Isak spoke up.
Hugo Ekitike doubled the lead with a header, the final goal became a decisive milestone for the defending champion. However, Liverpool still experienced tense final minutes when Spurs rallied to reverse the situation, despite continuing to weaken after Cristian Romero's red card in injury time.
In the end, the results proved that Arne Slot's choice was correct. He believes that the team's failure to fully utilize the advantage of having more players is a consequence of the scratches in the previous decline period, when Liverpool lost 9/12 matches in all competitions (3 wins).
Currently unbeaten in 6 matches, including 5 matches in the Premier League (3 wins, 2 draws), the possibility of Liverpool slipping before an opponent who is deeply in crisis is almost an unimaginable scenario. Especially when they have won 17/20 matches in the highest league in the period from Christmas to the New Year (2 draws, 1 loss).
At Anfield, Liverpool also won 25/31 matches taking place from Boxing Day to New Year's Eve. Notably, their only defeat in this period was against Wolves in 2010.
In the opposite direction, Wolves are reaching an unwanted milestone after a 0-2 defeat to Brentford last weekend. Keane Lewis-Potter's double not only prolonged the gloomy days, but also made "Old Gold" equal the record for the longest unbeaten start to the Premier League season, equaling Sheffield United's 17-match streak in 2021.
Wolves falling into a precarious situation is not accidental. They are the team that has scored the fewest goals this season (9), conceded the most goals (37) and have suffered 10 consecutive defeats in the highest league.
Only avoiding defeat thanks to two 1-1 draws against Tottenham and Brighton, Wolves - currently 16 points behind the safe zone - are facing the risk of becoming the second team in Premier League history to only win 2 points after the first 18 matches of the season, after Newport County in the 1970-1971 season.
The away trip to Anfield further fuels concerns, as Wolves have lost 16/17 of their most recent encounters in the league. However, coach Edwards still hopes the team can cling to a rare "sign". In all 17 Premier League matches this season for Wolves, the team that scored first was the winning team.
Expected lineup:
Alisson, Bradley, Konate, Van Dijk, Kerkez, Jones, Gravenberch, Gakpo, Mac Allister, Wirtz, Ekitike.
Sa, S. Bueno, Mosquera, Doherty, Hoever, J. Gomes, Andre, Krejci, Wolfe, Arokodare, Hwang.
The match between Liverpool and Wolves takes place at 10:00 PM on December 27th (Vietnam time).
