Wolves 1-3 Liverpool: Jurgen Klopp’s side go TOP of the Premier League as Cody Gakpo, Andy Robertson and a Hugo Bueno own goal inspire thrilling second-half comeback at Molineux

• Liverpool came back from going a goal down to defeat Wolves 3-1 at Molineux 
• Cody Gakpo, Andy Robertson and Harvey Elliott all scored to inspire the victory 
• Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport’s podcast It’s All Kicking Off!

Mohamed Salah contributed a hat-trick of assists as Liverpool ended their lunchtime hoodoo with another stirring comeback win.

After Wolves had taken the lead after seven minutes through Hwang Hee-Chan, Salah – who was heavily linked with a move to Saudi Arabia in the transfer window – set up second-half goals for Cody Gakpo, stand-in captain Andy Robertson and Harvey Elliott via a deflection – to stretch their unbeaten league run to 16 matches, dating back to April.

Given the absences of Virgi van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold and four of his squad only returning to training on Friday after playing World Cup qualifiers in South America, Jurgen Klopp would have been delighted once again with the spirit of his side after a poor start to the game.

They have previously fought back against Bournemouth and Newcastle this season with only 10 men and Saturday’s win at Molineux was a contrast to last season when they failed to win any of their six games that started at 12.30pm.

Wolves started quickly against an unfamiliar Liverpool line-up and were rewarded after seven minutes. 

Mohamed Salah (pictured) starred to deliver a trio of assists during Liverpool’s 3-1 victory against Wolves at Molineux

Hwang Hee-chan (pictured) scored after seven minutes to put Liverpool a goal down early

Cody Gakpo (middle) levelled after half-time tapping in from a cross from Salah 

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Debutant Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, signed on deadline day from Strasbourg, had already caused panic and Alexis Mac Allister booked for fouling Matheus Cunha when home dominance paid off.

Pedro Neto got to the byline and fizzed a cross past Liverpool No78 Jarell Quansah on his first Premier League start.

Hwang-Hee Chan sidefooted at the far post and though Alisson kept the ball out of the net, it didn’t need a beep from the referee’s watch to tell fans it had crossed the line.

Hwang’s third league goal in four games matched his tally for the whole of last season while Neto’s fourth assist confirmed his excellent form.

Liverpool looked shellshocked by the pace of Wolves’ play and it looked as if Klopp’s pre-match comments criticising the kick off time may be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The visitors were relieved not to concede again when Neto cut inside and fired wide. His contest against Joe Gomez, struggling as Alexander-Arnold’s deputy, was a mismatch.

Liverpool’s body language was a worry with Diogo Jota – booed by the Molineux faithful on his return – and Mac Allister – both gesturing in displeasure at a lack of movement around them.

Even so, Klopp’s half-time team talk was made easier by a strong close to the first period.

Gakpo missed two opportunities and as Michael Oliver was about to blow for the interval when Salah nearly capitalised on a weak punch from Sa. The Egyptian’s shot was blocked by Mario Lemina falling on the ball face-up and Sa stopped Dominik Szoboszlai shooting the rebound.

Andy Robertson (middle) put Liverpool ahead, driving into the Wolves penalty area to tap in with his left foot

Harvey Elliott’s (right) deflected shot off Hugo Bueno helped Liverpool add a third goal to their tally

Despite conceding early, Liverpool have now stretched their unbeaten league run to 16 matches, dating back to April

MATCH FACTS

Wolves (4-2-3-1): Sa 6: Semedo 6.5, Dawson 7, Kilman 6, Ait-Nouri 6 (Bueno 65 6); Lemina 7 (Traore 77), Gomes 6; Hwang 6.5 (Doherty 60 6), Bellegarde 7 (Doyle 77), Neto 7.5; Cunha 6.5 (Silva 60 5.5)

Subs unused: Bentley (Gk), Sarabia, Kalajdzic, Toti

Goal: Hwang 7

Booked: Semedo

Liverpool (4-3-3): Alisson 6: Gomez 5.5, Matip 6, Quansah 7 (Konate 83), Robertson 7.5; Szoboszlai 6.5, Jones 6, Mac Allister 6 (Diaz 45 6); Salah 8 (Gravenberch 90), Gakpo 6 (Nunez 56 6), Jota 5.5 (Elliott 56 6.5)

Subs unused: Kelleher (Gk), Tsimikas, Endo, Bajcetic

Goal: Gakpo 55, Robertson 85, Bueno og 90

Booked: Mac Allister Elliott, Jones

The second half was a very different story as Wolves tried to protect what they had and Liverpool grew in confidence.

Diaz replaced Mac Allister at the interval with Curtis Jones dropping deeper and chances began to build.

Diaz headed wide and then the decision to send on Darwin Nunez and Harvey Elliott paid dividends even before they entered the field.

The pair of substitutes were on the touchline waiting for the next break in play when Jota fed Salah on the right after 55 minutes.

His low driven cross-shot was tapped in by the alert Gakpo, who scored twice for his country in Euro qualifiers but hadn’t previously netted for Liverpool this season.

It didn’t earn the Dutchman any more time though. Despite levelling, Klopp stuck to his changes before the game restarted with the scorer taken off alongside Jota.

Salah was the standout performer, recording his third, fourth and fifth assists in the Premier League this season

The result puts Jurgen Klopp’s (pictured) side top of the Premier League table on 13 points

Gary O’Neil’s (pictured) team have now lost four of their last five league matches so far this season  

Wolves boss Gary O’Neil responded by sending on Fabio Silva and Matt Doherty as Hwang and Cunha made way.

Liverpool pressed for the winner with Nunez going closest as he was thwarted by a combination of Sa and Max Kilman. Liverpool’s stand-in captain Andy Robertson spent more time in the opposition half than his position of left-back.

That sense of adventure paid dividend after 85 minutes. A poor goal-kick by Sa was gobbled up by Elliott still in the Wolves half. He fed Salah and from the Egyptians clever pass, Robertson ran through to finish calmly like a centre-forward.

Liverpool then delivered the final blow in injury-time. Salah was again the provider laying back to Elliott whose crack from the edge of the box hit Hugo Bueno and deflected in off the inside of the post.

IT’S ALL KICKING OFF! 

It’s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football, launching with a preview show today and every week this season.

It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube , Apple Music and Spotify

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