04 February 2023 , 17:08
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Jurgen Klopp did not back his emotions at Joel Matip after the centre-back produced a shocking performance in Liverpool's 3-0 defeat against Wolves on Saturday afternoon.
The 31-year-old scored an unfortunate own-goal in the fifth minute to give Wolves the lead as Hwang Hee-Chan's cross hit Matip's right leg before going in off the post. Moments later, Julen Lopetegui's side doubled their advantage through Craig Dawson's sharp finish.
However, Klopp was been furious with his side's defending in the build-up to the strike. The Reds didn't get much better as the game wore on and Matip made a calamitous mistake in the 26th minute, which almost resulted in a third for Wolves.
Matip had his pocket picked by Matheus Nunes, but the Portugal international fired his effort straight at Alisson once through on goal. Then Klopp was spotted seething at his defender in what surely has to be one of the worst performances of Matip's Reds' career since his move in 2018.
Joe Gomez wasn't much better, however, and also struggled at the back as Liverpool badly missed Virgil van Dijk's presence in the heart of the team. The Dutchman picked up a hamstring injury in the Reds' 3-1 defeat at Brentford on January 2 and hasn't featured since.
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Meanwhile, Ibrahima Konate is also out through injury and Liverpool need to get those two players, especially Van Dijk, back quickly. The Reds were still in the game at half-time but needed a mammoth response after the interval to get into the match.
Joel Matip struggled against Wolves (Getty Images)Darwin Nunez had an excellent chance to reduce the arrears for Liverpool after he was played through by Trent Alexander-Arnold, but his effort was saved by Jose Sa. Then on 69 minutes, Alexander-Arnold should've done better from a free-kick in a dangerous position but his strike hit the wall, before his second flew wide of target.
Klopp's side were made to pay for not taking their chances as Wolves wrapped up the points in the 71st minute thanks to Neves. Once again, it was disastrous defending from the Reds as they allowed Neves to drift into some space and he was played in by Adama Traore, before the Wolves midfielder slotted easily past Alisson.
That was how it finished as Wolves secured another important win on their path to Premier League survival. Meanwhile, the result adds further misery in a season that has already been one to forget from Liverpool's perspective, with defeat now ensuring they languish as low as 10th in the table.
It is a damning indictment of how poorly the campaign has gone for Klopp's side that after 20 games played, beyond the half-way point, they sit just inside the top half of the table by a single point.