LONDON: Liverpool will struggle both to defend the FA Cup and to catch the Premier League’s top four unless they sort out the problems which almost brought an Anfield exit against Wolves. 

One position about which Klopp should not need to worry is goalkeeper. But even Alisson has proved fallible in the 2:2 draw. Liverpool conceded the first goal after Brazil’s World Cup keeper passed the ball out to Goncalo Guedes. Fortunately for him Darwin Nunez and Mo Salah led a Reds’ recovery before Hwang Hee-chan equalised midway through the second half. Wolves thought they had regained the lead through Toti Gomes but the goal was ruled out controversially.

The referee’s assistant had flagged that Matheus Nunes was offside when he centred for Toti to score from close range. But Nunes’s movement after taking a short corner was in a ‘blind spot’ for the VAR cameras so the assistant’s flag was decisive. This infuriated Wolves manager Julen Lopetegui claimed his tactical camera had shown Nunes to have been onside when he crossed the ball.

Even Klopp was sympathetic. He said: “We have only one picture where it may look offside but I can understand why Wolves are angry about it. We don’t want VAR to have only one angle.”

Liverpool were fortunate to escape with a replay. Cody Gakpo made a promising first appearance on the left of attack after his £45m arrival from PSV Eindhoven. He provided the cross which led to Salah’s goal. Attack is not so much Klopp’s problem as the centre of defence and midfield. Virgil van Dijk will be out for a month with a hamstring injury and neither Joel Matip or Ibrahima Konate stepped up to need for a leadership role.

In midfield Jordan Henderson, Fabinho and Thiago Alcantara were short of pace against an eager young pack of Wolves. Thiago was often caught in possession and Henderson was substituted by Naby Keita with 20 minutes remaining. Liverpool have been linked with Brighton midfielder Moises Caicedo as well as Atalanta’s Dutch World Cup star Teun Koopmeiners. But their prospects of signing Jude Bellingham are fading with their own form. Next Saturday’s visit to Brighton will be a difficult test.

#####