It was a case of deja vu for Liverpool at Molineux last night.
The Reds suffered yet another stoppage time loss, a record-breaking fifth time that has happened this season.
It was yet another game in which the Premier League champions didn’t really start playing until they’d fallen behind. Any semblance of a game plan went out of the window and the balance of the team wasn’t important.
Arne Slot wanted to get his team back into the game and in the end, this cost them.
As Andre picked up a headed pass in the 94th minute, 30+ yards from goal, the closest Liverpool players to him were Federico Chiesa and Rio Ngumoha. Neither put in any challenge or even looked to stop him progressing with the ball and the Wolves midfielder was able to unleash an effort from 20 yards out.
The deflection off of Joe Gomez was lucky, but it is a consequence of chaos. The Premier League champions weren’t in a position to defend the situation and they were punished.
Can it really be bad luck if it has happened time and time again this term?
Slot acknowledged this in his post-match press conference too.
"How do I sum this up? Same old story. My expectations have changed throughout the season because I expected more from us and what we are fighting for now. But it's another setback and we didn't help ourselves with this result, not at all.
"That [dropping points] is a concern because it is not the first time we have dropped points against teams that are in these positions.
"But we are not the first team to drop points here, last week it was [Aston] Villa, the week before Arsenal. So they are having a good momentum."
Wolves did have momentum on their side. The bottom of the table team had found some form recently but Liverpool headed into the game having won four of their last five in the Premier League. In their last outing, they’d defeated West Ham 5-2 at Anfield.
They’d had luck on their side in that game but they still went into the game as the team ranked third in the form table.
Liverpool, like it or not, had momentum on their side.
They did nothing with that though and allowed Wolves to dictate the game at Molineux by bossing the space rather than the ball.
Slot’s side had 66% possession and finished with a higher expected goals (xG) total but the open-play xG hauls were basically even. The away side weren’t able to create anything of note. Rob Edwards’ men kept the visitors at arm’s length and actually dominated duels, winning 60%.
These metrics paint the picture of the game.
The Merseysiders had sterile possession because Wolves allowed it. As soon as the Reds ventured into dangerous areas, the hosts stopped it.
This has been the case a lot of the time this season. Virgil van Dijk alluded to it when speaking to the media at Molineux, saying: "I think it is down to ourselves. It was slow, we were predictable, sloppy in possession and wrong decision-making. We didn't concede chances but if you perform like that, then a result like this can be a result of that and that's a fact. It was disappointing."
Liverpool are predictable. They are sloppy in possession. They are boring to watch. And that comes from the manager. He might not set foot on the pitch but the Dutch tactician has put his stamp on how his side play.
Slot is the reason Milos Kerkez spent half the season playing in a more reserved role. He’s the reason Wirtz was moved about the team initially. He’s the reason the build-up style is slow and meticulous which in turn limits those in attack.
It’s really no coincidence that Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah are posting career low averages while Alexander Isak looked a shell of the player the Reds spent £125million on.
The fact so many players are struggling points to a problem with the system and the coaching. As a team, they are bereft of ideas when they step foot on the pitch.
And that, ultimately, is an issue with coaching.
When so many individuals are failing to perform, there are larger issues at play. Liverpool went from being ranked first for xGand big chances to being fifth for xG and sixth for big chances this season.
The attack has regressed.
They’ve won just four Premier League matches across the 11 in 2026. During this run, they have lost to Bournemouth, Manchester City and Wolves. They have beaten Newcastle and West Ham convincingly but eked out narrow 1-0 wins over Sunderland and Nottingham Forest.
Draws with Leeds, Fulham, Arsenal and Burnley are why the Reds find themselves in fifth position.
There are, of course, caveats to this season.
The death of Diogo Jota will have a lasting impact on this group. The sheer turnover of players in the summer meant Slot always had an uphill task on his hands to bed everyone in.
You do have to sympathise with the former Feyenoord coach.
But, now in March, a win-rate of 48% with no clear, distinct attacking patterns of play simply isn’t good enough, is it?
Every good run of form is supposed to be a platform for the Reds to kick on and finish the season well but it’s always a false dawn and Liverpool always get dragged back into a top-five scrap.
The head coach is struggling to come up with a game plan, he’s finding it impossible to manage games and he’s not able to create an environment for the many, many talented players within the squad to thrive.
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