Arne Slot reminded of worrying Liverpool issue as UK media reacts to Wolves 'embarrassment'

Liverpool suffered a 2-1 defeat to bottom-placed Wolves at Molineux as Andre scored a 93rd-minute winner in the first of this week's Premier League double header

Arne Slot trudges off as Wolves celebrated(Image: Getty Images)

Liverpool suffered their ninth Premier League defeat of the season as bottom-placed Wolves netted a stoppage-time winner at Molineux in the first of this week's two fixtures.

Following Mohamed Salah's equaliser after Rodrigo Gomes had given the hosts the lead in a dramatic conclusion in the Black Country, Andre Trindade struck in the 93rd minute, his effort deflecting off Joe Gomez, to secure all three points for Rob Edwards' side, claiming only their third victory of the season.

National media representatives were present to offer their expert Liverpool assessments. Here's their verdict as the Reds endured a costly setback in their pursuit of Champions League qualification.

Dominic King - Daily Mail - "This is a movie he has seen too many times before. Andre's goal came in the 94th minute, the fifth time in this campaign Liverpool have thrown a game away. It is a Premier League record and one, frankly, that should embarrass them.

"'It's the same old story,' Slot said forlornly. 'It sums up our season.'".

"It is a season that remains on the precipice. There is a realm in which Liverpool finish the campaign with a piece of silverware, safely parked in the top four, but the parallel universe – the one that most likely – sees them potless and excluded from the positions that carry such importance.

"A game that, in reality, should have been straightforward for a team that is pursuing a place in next season's Champions League morphed into the equivalent of listening to a sermon on economics in a stuffy, poorly ventilated lecture theatre: a recipe to leave you dozing.

"Backwards and sideways Liverpool went and whilst at one stage they had 41 touches in the Wolves penalty area, they were predictable and slovenly and never looked capable of blowing down the opposition house. When they huff and puff like this, they look distinctly ordinary."

Reds boss Arne Slot looks on(Image: Getty Images)

Richard Jolly - The Independent - "Increasingly, injury time is not Arne time. A night when Wolves could savour an action replay left Arne Slot lamenting the 'same old story'.

"For the second time in four days, head coach Rob Edwards set off down the touchline in manic celebration. Wolves, as their fans had chorused, are bound for the Championship, but on the way they are bloodying the noses of those with ambitions of Champions League qualification. First Aston Villa and now Liverpool have fallen at Molineux.

"For Slot, the feeling of déjà vu was disheartening. His team have become unwanted record setters, marking themselves as the first Premier League side to suffer five defeats in a single campaign through goals conceded in the 90th minute. 'The three times we lost in the last 22 games were all three in extra time,' Slot remarked following Wolves' late strike, mirroring similar heartbreak inflicted by Bournemouth and Manchester City.

"Factor in the late equalisers conceded against Fulham and Leeds, and Liverpool have surrendered nine points during injury time. Such lapses could potentially deny them Champions League qualification. Liverpool might argue their most recent defeat was unfortunate, given the decisive goal required a deflection and they struck the frame of the goal twice. 'That it happens in extra time might be a coincidence but it happens so many times,' observed Slot. Yet again, questions arise regarding Liverpool's ability to see out matches."

Daniel Marsh - The Mirror - "Whilst much has been made of Salah's struggles this term, Cody Gakpo has been just as underwhelming from a numbers perspective. His goal in the 5-2 win over West Ham at the weekend was his first since the start of January and he, like Salah, was ineffective at Molineux.

"With Salah in his pomp and Luis Diaz first-choice on the left prong of Liverpool's front three, the duo amassed a staggering 67 goal contributions between them in the Premier League as the Reds blitzed their way to Premier League glory. The drop-off in that area this year is significant - albeit with the caveat that there are still games to go - with Gakpo and Salah having just the 19 between them (20 with Salah's late strike here)."

But it's not just goal contributions - they have failed to affect games in the same way Liverpool's wide men did last year, which will be a major concern for Slot and Co - even if Salah did find the net in the league for the first time since the start of November."

Paul Joyce - The Times - "There had been just two defeats in Liverpool's previous 21 matches and yet Slot was largely none the wiser as to how his team would perform.

"Sloppy and slapdash as in the opening half of their previous away game which came at Nottingham Forest? Pinpoint from set pieces as evident against West Ham United at the weekend? ­Moments when it can feel like things are knitting together or others when it looks as if there has been a collective blackout?"Every game, as the travelling support could attest, represents something of a trip into the unknown. None of which, of course, reflects particularly well on the Dutchman.

"A horrible mish-mash ensued, although not with regard to the delivery from corners. That was downright awful throughout the opening half."

Within 40 seconds, Wolves' right wing-back Jackson Tchatchoua was scampering in behind Liverpool's backline to no effect as it turned out, whilst, at the other end, opportunities to breach the bottom club's defences also came and went. "".

Ian Doyle - Liverpool ECHO -"As the ecstatic Wolves bench sprinted past him down the touchline during another manic additional time period, Arne Slot cut a rather more sombre figure.

"Small wonder. Just when the Liverpool boss had thought this season had thrown everything at him, along came another reminder of why his team continue to scrabble around among the also-rans in the hope of salvaging Champions League qualification.

"It was bad enough the Reds slumped to yet another last-gasp defeat to miss the opportunity to, at least temporarily, move back into the top four.

"But that it came against a team that had previously won just two of 29 Premier League games and had long given up hope of survival made this arguably the most embarrassing defeat of a campaign that continues to offer so many contenders.

"Was it misfortune that Liverpool, having dragged themselves level when Mohamed Salah ended his goal drought to equalise substitute Rodrigo Gomes's opener, were ultimately undone by Andre's shot taking a massive deflection off Joe Gomez four minutes into injury time? Undoubtedly.

"You make your own luck, however. And there could be few arguments that if one team deserved to win this game, it was Wolves."