This weekend, Liverpool will play again in the Premier League when they travel to the West Midlands to take on Wolves.
The Reds will fancy their chances against a team that lost a number of important players during the summer transfer window as they aim to pick up where they left off before the international break.
A 3-0 loss in a woeful effort occurred on a league trip to Molineux last season, making it clear that this weekend’s matchup is an opportunity to make up for that performance.One issue is that the early kick-off for this game is a time frame in which the Reds failed to win a single game previous season (three draws and three losses).
It was obviously unfavorable for Liverpool to learn last Friday that Virgil van Dijk had been given an additional one-game suspension, keeping him out of the Molineux match, as well as a £100,000 fine for using “abusive and insulting” language following his red card at Newcastle. Such a penalty would at least have a positive effect on behavior in football, but the standard needs to be followed consistently.
Another intriguing aspect was the first episode of “Match Officials Mic’d Up” that aired last Tuesday. Howard Webb examined some of the most significant VAR decisions made so far in 2023–24 while replaying video and playing audio of official conversations. Although numerous contentious judgments weren’t addressed, it was nevertheless an improvement in transparency. For instance, learning the rationale for Alexis Mac Allister’s dismissal against Bournemouth would have been instructive.
After international vacations, noon starts can be difficult, but the Reds have many reasons to feel confident going into their match against Gary O’Neil’s team on Saturday.
