05 February 2023 , 18:26
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Liverpool's painful mid-season form can be summed up by the fact that their top league scorer since the World Cup is Leicester City defender Wout Faes.
Jurgen Klopp's side were dreaming of a top-four finish after their players returned from Qatar, beating Aston Villa 3-1 on Boxing Day before Faes' pair of own goals decided a meeting with the Foxes at Anfield. Since then, though, the Reds have picked up just one league point and only scored one goal.
The latest setback came on Saturday, with two early goals from Wolves paving the way for the strugglers to secure their biggest league win in 11 months. It was a third successive away league defeat for Klopp's men, and a third successive game in the competition without a goal.
Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Stefan Bajcetic were all on target at Villa Park on Boxing Day. Salah, Liverpool's top scorer in all competitions this season, also netted both domestic cups but hasn't scored in the league since that Boxing Day game, and Darwin Nunez's only goal since then came in the FA Cup third round
Liverpool began 2023 with a defeat at Brentford, with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scoring their goal. Since then, though, 3-0 defeats at Brighton and Wolves have come either side of a goalless draw with Chelsea.
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The poor form has left the Reds down in 10th, some 11 points adrift of fourth-place Newcastle. Next up for Klopp's team is a home Merseyside derby against an Everton side coming off a 1-0 victory over league leaders Arsenal.
"Obviously it was a horrible start," Klopp told Premier League productions after Liverpool's latest defeat. "Two goals which cannot happen like that. But it happened and we were 2-0 down because of our own fault.
Wolves beat Liverpool 3-0 at Molineux on Saturday (CameraSport via Getty Images)What has gone wrong for Liverpool? Have your say in the comments section
"We should have defended better. We were passive in that period. I cannot explain it. There is no excuse for it. You're 2-0 down, the crowd is there but it opens up and we get some control. Then for about 45 minutes we play a good away game without scoring. That sums it up pretty much."
An unfortunate Joel Matip own goal and a debut strike from Craig Dawson put Wolves 2-0 up inside the first 15 minutes. Liverpool asserted themselves more in the second half, but were caught out on the break as Ruben Neves added a third for the hosts.
"We have to change it immediately in the next game," Klopp added.. " Everton won today and they are in a good moment so we have to prove a point again. For the moment, I'm so disappointed and angry about the first 15 minutes, I can't find the words for it. Then we have chances we should score. It could have been 2-1 and that would have changed everything I'm sure. Wolves deserve the three points."