'Frailty is maddening' - How national media reacted to Liverpool's win over Wolves

Liverpool beat Wolves 2-1 at Anfield on Saturday to move back into the top four of the Premier League

Florian Wirtz scored his first Liverpool goal against Wolves(Image: Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA, Getty Images)

So the streak rolls on. Liverpool extended their unbeaten run to seven matches with a hard-fought 2-1 Premier League triumph against bottom-placed Wolves at Anfield on Saturday.

Goals from Ryan Gravenberch and Florian Wirtz proved decisive as the Reds climbed back into the top four and Champions League qualification spots for the first time in nearly two months.

However, it proved to be a challenging afternoon. Here's how the national press assessed a favorable outcome for Arne Slot's team.

Paul Joyce highlighted in The Times yet another second-half dip from the Reds. "Of course, Liverpool being Liverpool, the luxury of a routine success proved beyond them," he writes.

"There have been too many jittery starts to second-halves for Slot's liking and far too many concessions from set pieces. Both eventualities played out here.

"A corner from Andre was met by Tolu Arokodare, and though Alisson saved his header, a 100th Premier League clean sheet by the Brazilian for Liverpool was elusive. Santiago Bueno pounced on the rebound to offer hope to Wolves, where, really, there should have been none.

"Liverpool have now conceded 12 goals from set pieces — seven from corners alone — and such a frailty is maddening for the manager.

Wirtz made it 2-0 for Liverpool shortly after Ryan Gravenberch opened the scoring(Image: Getty Images)

"With tension seeping back into the host's performance, a sign of how confidence remains fragile when everything does not go their way, Ibrahima Konate gestured for the home crowd to provide more backing."

Andy Hunter penned in The Guardian about the poignant nature of the first encounter between Diogo Jota's two previous Premier League sides since his heartbreaking passing during the summer.

"Jota's two sons, Dinis and Duarte, and other young family members were mascots for the first meeting between the late striker's two English clubs since his death in July," he writes.

"It was a lovely touch by Liverpool to involve the family so closely in proceedings, though heartbreaking to see the children walk out alongside Virgil van Dijk with their mum, Jota's widow, Rute Cardoso, watching on from the sidelines and their dad's retired number 20 on their backs.

It was an emotional day at Anfield as Liverpool celebrated Diogo Jota with the late Reds ace's sons among the matchday mascots(Image: AFP or licensors)

"The Liverpool captain looked after the youngsters brilliantly throughout the warm-up. Wolves supporters sang their Jota song in the 18th minute, and Liverpool fans followed suit with their customary tribute in the 20th."

Young writer Lewis Steele mused in the Daily Mail on the impact of match-winner Wirtz.

"Wirtz scored his first Liverpool goal at the 23rd time of asking and the German started to dictate proceedings in the fashion Liverpool's scouts would have seen him do hundreds of times for Bayer Leverkusen," he writes. "The 22-year-old has been on a special programme to bulk up to the intensity of English football with Wirtz putting on around two kilograms. Hard shifts in the gym are finally paying dividends and, in this game, he looked two or three steps ahead of everyone else on the pitch.

"Shimmying past challenges, picking eye-of-the-needle passes and, at long last, proving he knows where the goal is with a clever run and tidy finish. He has all the hard-working German efficiency you may expect off the ball coupled with a Spanish-like deft touch and creative eye."

Richard Jolly of The Independent offered another pessimistic perspective on Liverpool's fourth consecutive triumph.

"It became a seventh game unbeaten; in the Premier League, they have 14 points from the last 18 available," he notes. "But the facts can paint an overly flattering picture. They made heavy weather of beating a team who have now made the longest winless start to a top-flight season since 1902-03.

"There was the familiar frailty when Liverpool were put under pressure at the back. Nine-man Tottenham might have taken a point against the champions. So could doomed Wolves. They got a goal, and in somewhat predictable fashion."