The Joe Edwards debrief – Liverpool 4 Wolves 0

The first half was not bad, but the second period was woeful and there is lots to work on ahead of welcoming Villa to Molineux on Saturday.

Formation thoughts

Asked immediately afterwards why the performance, especially after the break, was so below the expected standard, Nuno did not have the answer.

But he was critical of how his charges went about their defending, and it very much seemed to be a case of individual errors proving costly – not the new four-at-the-back formation being the issue.

Yes, having one fewer in defence does naturally leave you more open, but none of the goals screamed out that the system was the problem.

The first was down to a clear mistake from Conor Coady, the second came from giving away possession cheaply, the third was because of not closing down the cross or tracking the runner, and the fourth just saw them carved open.

Those goals, simply put, were down to players not doing their jobs, regardless of system.

If you are not pressing enough or marking men properly, you are going to concede – no matter how many players you have in defence.

There were promising signs against Southampton and Arsenal so, hopefully, despite the result, this does not see the 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 set-up abandoned. After all, goals remain a problem as well.

Striker situation

In their first full game without Raul Jimenez, who it is great to hear is now back home following surgery for a fractured skull, Wolves lacked a focal point.

The decision to play Pedro Neto, Adama Traore and Daniel Podence as a fluid front three was not a huge surprise and they cause problems early on with their pace and trickery – Podence forcing a fine save from Caoimhin Kelleher.

But the longer the game went on, it became clear that a more traditional striking presence was needed, to hold the ball up and bring others into play.

Unfortunately, though, by the time Fabio Silva was introduced Wolves were two down and he went on to barely have a kick. Still, most would like to see Silva in from the off against Villa.

Jimenez, of course, is hugely missed and the youngster is not at that level yet, but he held his own against Arsenal and made some clever decoy runs which allowed those around him to shine.

And the £35million signing will only get better with game time, so let’s see if that first Premier League start comes against Dean Smith’s men.

Semedo’s role

Everyone had off-nights for Wolves – Coady gifting Liverpool the lead before being involved in a penalty call which was rightly reversed.

But, it must be said, Nelson Semedo is still yet to fully convince at right-back.

Coming in after the departure of Matt Doherty – who was such a crucial player and key to Wolves’ style of play – Semedo has not had a blow-away performance.

Ending with an own goal on Merseyside, the Portuguese was caught ball-watching more than once.

It is only right to expect some teething problems, but it is also fair to have expected more from Semedo thus far, given his big price tag. If he does not improve soon, perhaps fellow summer signing Ki-Jana Hoever is worth a go?

Difficult December

On the whole, Wolves have to to improve all over the park to pick up points over the coming weeks.

Villa will be refreshed and excited after a weekend off, and games against Chelsea, Burnley, Tottenham and Manchester United are also coming before the end of 2020. Fingers crossed, this Liverpool loss is just looked back upon as a bad night at the office.