On an afternoon swathed in emotion as Liverpool met Wolves for the first time since Diogo Jota‘s passing, the Reds put another foot forward and evidenced some signs of where the future is heading.
Liverpool 2-1 Wolves
Premier League (18) | Anfield
December 27, 2025
Goals: Gravenberch 41′, Wirtz 42′; Bueno 51′
Liverpool 2-1 Wolves: Key talking points
• Jota remembered: Anfield paid an emotional tribute to Diogo Jota, with his children leading the teams out as mascots
• Tactical identity: Arne Slot‘s midfield structure is returning, aided by the high-energy overlapping runs of Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong
• Courage needed: Despite the win, the Reds must rediscover their bravery to kill off games and fix set-piece vulnerabilities
1. This was about much more than football
Few sports do emotion like football. This game we’re blessed with, occasionally cursed by but always obsessed with has its own very specific way of pulling you in, making you feel things you could not feel elsewhere and providing that sanctuary and safe space.
And so when the brutal and tragic realities of the real world cross over with the football bubble and hold a mirror up to the fragility of life, it really hurts.
Both Liverpool and Wolves did a fitting and touching job of uniting today to remember Diogo Jota.
A player who meant so much to both sides; a young and exciting overseas signing laden with potential, transforming into a bonafide Premier League goalscorer before emerging as a high profile acquisition at Anfield, at a time when Liverpool had finally climbed back onto the perch of becoming Premier League and European champions.
It was always fitting that the Reds signed Jota when they were on cloud nine, having won the lot. They still wanted to reach the next level and this lad was seen as a perfect fit to help them do so.
Through the tragedy of the situation, which never feels like it gets easier if you dwell on it for too long, it remains apt that Diogo Jota will forever be a reigning Premier League champion with Liverpool.
Today was about much more than football and if it brought some measure of warmth and reassurance to the family and young children of Jota who walked out proudly as mascots, then both teams can be proud of their work.
2. Packing the midfield bears fruit
We can now see a better picture of what Arne Slot and his coaching staff are trying to do.
The interchanging layers in the midfield three, today comprising Curtis Jones, Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch, are working well to keep things compact and busy in the centre of the park – anchoring the attacking and defensive lines closer together.
Very apparent now is the fact that none of this works efficiently without the two high energy, risk-taking full backs.
Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong were both recruited as first-choice defensive additions over the summer, and their marauding and risk-taking styles were very much on show.
Ball-playing midfielders can work exceptionally well keeping things turning over in the middle channels, providing they have constant working options out wide. In the spells against Wolves in which Liverpool were dominant, the full-backs were active every single time.
The ball is either recouped by the midfield or played out from the back, the full-backs overlap and give an option, drawing in the attacking line and allowing the free man – sometimes Jones, sometimes Mac Allister, to take up position on the edge of the area.
There is an identity coming back into this Liverpool team and the signs are forming, showing the direction the team is headed and how it is going to set up into the new era.
3. Wirtz and Kerkez can thrive together
Both Kerkez and Florian Wirtz put in frantic and thrilling performances, and it’s clear now that there is no coincidence in both of these players turning up at the same time.
The left flank looked like a serious task for an opposition today, with the creativity and vision of Wirtz paired superbly with the tenacity and chaos of Kerkez.
The pair love a first-time cross, almost as much as they each love cutting inside. Both are comfortable on the ball and neither need asking twice to take on their marker one-on-one.
It’s a partnership which has serious potential to flourish, and one the data boffins in the transfer department almost certainly had high hopes for when the summer planning was drawn up.
4. Set pieces need to be fixed
Another game goes by in which Liverpool concede from a set piece. The repetition isn’t even puzzling any more, it is predictable and rather pathetic in its nature.
The same searing issue keeps cropping up; Liverpool construct well, but as a soon as a second ball drops into unknown territory all heads are lost.
Unless Virgil van Dijk wades in to lash the unwelcome item that is a football in the six-yard box clear, panic seems to seep out.
It feels like players are casting a quick glance at each other to clock who is going in to address the loose possession, rather than act immediately.
5. Job done but major trait still missing
With each win comes another top up measure of confidence, but right now Liverpool need courage. It’s the major trait missing and it has been for some time now, arguably since the first ball was kicked back in August.
Courage on a football pitch doesn’t just come when you’re 3-0 behind and looking to pull off a comeback fit for the history books.
Courage needs to be displayed at all times, and it’s overlooked and undervalued just how vital being bold and brave can be when you’re sitting in the driving seat in a football match.
The overarching positive is this is another fixture ticked off and another three points in the bag for Liverpool. Another little climb up the table.
But to allow a team, who boast only two points to their name, to have the lion’s share of possession in the last 15 minutes and sequence together one wave of attack after another is baffling.
With Arsenal on the horizon, Slot and Co need to drum it back into the starting XI that courage sees out football matches. It rewards early leads and dominant spells.
There is no time for shirking away from the ball, for not spreading the pitch to its full width and for not taking on the ambitious passes through the lines.
When courage evaporates and a team plays safer than safe, opponents sense only fear and opportunity. It very nearly happened a week ago against nine-man Tottenham, and it realistically could have occurred once more here.
Liverpool need to wise up and rediscover their bravery – it’s still in there somewhere.
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