Liverpool’s Jota is in red-hot form. — AP
WINLESS in five matches, Wolverhampton Wanderers boss Gary O’Neil faces an uphill task of guiding his team back up the table.
O’Neil will no doubt be feeling pressure as his team, who are rooted at the bottom, have only mustered one point, the same as 19th-placed Everton.
Wolves have been badly let down by their defence, especially in the last two league matches against Newcastle United and Aston Villa.
In both games, Wolves were a goal up before halftime, and then imploded in the second half.
They conceded goals within the last 20 minutes in both matches, which resulted in the 2-1 defeat to Newcastle at home and 3-1 to Aston Villa away.
O’Neil is also facing some injury concerns, with centre-back Yerson Mosquera out for the season, having picked up a knee injury in the defeat at Villa Park.
Toti Gomes, another defender who can play in that position, is also a doubt due to a hamstring injury.
Mosquera has been O’Neil’s first choice, with his partners being either Gomes or Craig Dawson, since Max Kilman was sold to West Ham.
With both Gomes and Mosquera out, Dawson will most likely be partnered with Santiago Bueno.
With Wolves hosting second-placed Liverpool at the Molineux Stadium this weekend, O’Neil will be hoping that his defence can withstand an expected assault from the Reds.
Arne Slot’s Liverpool side will surely be up to the task, having dismantled West Ham 5-1 in the Carabao EFL Cup third round match in midweek.
Substituted just before the hour mark, Diogo Jota, who scored twice in the match, should also be starting alongside Mohamed Salah and in-form winger Luis Diaz.
Salah made a second-half cameo against West Ham and scored a goal, while Diaz was an unused substitute on the bench.
While Salah has a club record to chase down, Diaz has been playing with fire in his belly, with five goals and an assist to his name so far.
Except for goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher, Slot fielded an entirely different line-up from the one that beat Bournemouth 3-0 last week.
Kelleher could retain his spot for the match against Wolves should first-choice keeper Alisson Becker be deemed not fit due to a minor muscle issue.
And those who started against the Cherries in defence and midfield are surely to be recalled.
The Molineux is quite a good hunting ground for Liverpool, who have won seven times and only lost once in the last 10 league matches there.
The Reds are pretty much the favourites against an out-of-sorts Wolves.
