Opposition watch: key facts & stats ahead of Liverpool's trip to Wolves

Liverpool face a tough trip to Molineux on Saturday afternoon as they look to avenge February's embarrassing 3-0 defeat.

Last season's result notwithstanding, Jurgen Klopp has had a lot of joy against the West Midlands side over the years, and will be hoping for more tomorrow as his players return from their first international break of the season looking to continue an unbeaten start to 2023/24.

READ MORE: Liverpool teams news ahead of clash with Wolves

Here are six key facts and stats to know about what Liverpool are up against ahead of the Premier League clash this weekend.

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Wolves rank first in the Premier League for tackles per match in 2023/24

With an average successful tackles per match of 13.3 (via FotMob), Wolves show that even though they have just a single win on the board this season, they certainly don’t shy away from a challenge.

With the likes of highly-rated Matheus Cunha, the experienced Mario Lemina and January signing Joao Gomes, Wolves posses quite a strong engine room, something Jurgen Klopp will certainly have his eye on.

Compared to Liverpool’s average successful tackles per match of nine, Klopp will have decision to make regarding who to partner with Dominik Szoboszlai in midfield tomorrow. The Hungarian is a certain to start, but with Alexis Mac Allister only having just returned from international duty in South America, the chances of Klopp risking the Argentinian are low.

As the most defensive of the Reds' midfield options, Wataru Endo may get only his second start, while new signing Ryan Gravenberch has a chance of being thrown in the deep end for a debut at Molineux. With his towering height and great ball retention, the Dutchmen should thrive in a physical midfield battle.

Wolves rank second for Premier League bookings in 2023/24

Following on from talk of a tough-tackling midfield, you can also expect cards this weekend.

Liverpool aren’t known to be a team that guarantee you bookings, but after their fiery start to this season partnered with Wolves’ current record, don’t be surprised if the yellows dished out by referee Michael Oliver.

Wolves currently have the second highest number of yellow cards this season with 13, along with a single red card.

Liverpool have only received six bookings in contrast, but with Virgil van Dijk and Mac Allister’s dismissals, the Reds have the joint most reds in the Premier League so far (along with Fulham).

Liverpool have won nine of their last ten matches against Wolves in all competitions

Since Klopp’s arrival in 2015, the German has only lost one of his ten league matches to Wolves, which was (of course) last season’s dismal 3-0 loss at Molineux back in February.

READ MORE: Liverpool have chance to prove how far they've come with win over Wolves

Aside from that however, Liverpool have a perfect record against the West Midlands side, with eight league wins in a row, six of which coming with clean sheets.

The Reds avenged February’s loss with a comfortable 2-0 win at Anfield the following month and will be hoping for another routine victory tomorrow.

Both teams have already missed seven big chances in the Premier League in 2023/24

That stat comes courtesy of FotMob.

When you have Darwin Nuñez in your team, you’re guaranteed goals, but also quite a few misses along the way.

The Uruguayan missed three big chances in Liverpool’s 3-0 win over Aston Villa two weeks ago, just a few days after his last-minute double at St. James’ Park.

When you’re scoring goals and winning games, missed chances aren’t always the biggest concern, but for Wolves that isn’t the case.

With just four goals this season, hitting the back of the net has become a real issue for Gary O’Neil’s side who were also 2022/23's lowest scorers in the Premier League (31).

Wolves have the third most accurate crosses in the Premier League in 2023/24

You would think with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson in Liverpool’s team that they might be leading the league’s accurate crosses, but Wolves find themselves much higher in that regard.

With an average of six accurate crosses per game, Wolves sit in third while maintaining a 32% cross success rate (FotMob). Liverpool find themselves in eighth, with only 4.8 accurate crosses averaged per game – though the Reds do have a slightly higher cross success rate of 33.3%.

Nelson Semedo and Ryan Ait Nouri aren’t the most attacking full-backs in the Premier League, but with their current success rate, don’t be surprised to see them bombing down the wing to produce a few chances for Wolves on Saturday.

Curiously, all four of Wolves' league goals this season have been headers...

Another record pending for Mohamed Salah?

Salah could become only the fourth Premier League player to register an assist in five successive away fixtures, following the slightly unexpected trio of Muzzy Izzet, Cesc Fabregas and Gerard Deulofeu, according to the BBC.

After grabbing assists against Chelsea, Bournemouth, Newcastle and Aston Villa, Liverpool’s Egyptian king is one more away from adding yet another impressive record to his book.

Much is said when Salah doesn’t score, but his impact is evident nonetheless, and might be aiming for more assists than goals tomorrow for the first and last time.