As the international break draws to a close, the return of Premier League football is upon us.
In their last outing, Wolverhampton Wanderers suffered defeat in South London at the hands of Crystal Palace. Frenchman Odsonne Edouard scored a decisive brace in a thrilling 3-2 victory for the Eagles in front of the Selhurst Park faithful.
Liverpool meanwhile made light work of a very capable Aston Villa side. An early and equally thunderous strike from Dominik Szoboszlai coupled with a Matty Cash own goal got the Reds off to a strong start against Unai Emery’s men at Anfield.
Since that Liverpool victory, the Saudi Pro League’s transfer window has closed and Jurgen Klopp will be delighted that they were able to batten down the hatches and retain the services of Mohamed Salah, the man who scored the third against Villa.
Next up, Wolves will cross paths with Liverpool as the pair go to battle on Saturday 16th of September at 12:30 at Molineux. We at Football FanCast have taken a look at the history of this fixture so that you don’t have to!
Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Liverpool: Who has the better head-to-head record?
Wolverhampton Wanderers are a club with a lot of history but it still isn’t all that surprising that Liverpool have had the edge more often than not in this fixture. The pair met four times in as many months last season, which will be unpacked later, meaning they certainly aren’t strangers to each other.
Wolverhampton Wanderers wins 37 Draws 18 Liverpool wins 59 Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Liverpool: Who has more wins at Molineux?
In spite of Liverpool’s positive record in this fixture, Wolves have got the better of the Reds when playing on home soil at Molineux.
Wolves were founded in 1877 and besides a brief spell at Dudley Road in the early days, they have always called Molineux home. It is an iconic ground and the first of its kind in many ways. Molineux was the first built for use by a Football League club, the first to install floodlights and it played host to several of the early European games.
Wolverhampton Wanderers wins 27 Draws 10 Liverpool wins 22 Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Liverpool: Who has more wins at Anfield?
Home form continues to prevail which is to be expected when Anfield is the ground in question. At its very best, there is nothing quite like Anfield and the fortress has played a part in this fixture too.
Liverpool came into existence in 1892 and have always played at Anfield, but a fascinating fact is that Everton called home for a few years prior to their arch-rivals’ creation.
Wolverhampton Wanderers wins 10 Draws 08 Liverpool wins 37 Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Liverpool: Who has the better cup record?
7 of the 10 cup meetings between these two have taken place at Molineux and so the trend continues once again, in favour of Wolverhampton Wanderers. The only ever League Cup clash went the way of Wolves in the 1973/1974 season, this being a 1-0 win in the quarter-finals and they went on to win it all that year.
Wolverhampton Wanderers wins 06 Draws 01 Liverpool wins 03 Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Liverpool: How have the last 5 meetings played out?
As previously mentioned, these two sides played each other four times last season and so would have been sick of the sight of each other eventually. As a result, four of the five latest meetings are very recent and up to date.
1st March 2023- Liverpool 2-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers:
Going back to March and this Premier League fixture was actually supposed to be earlier in the season but it was postponed. Liverpool left it late in front of their home crowd, quickfire goals from Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah making the difference.
4th February 2023- Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-0 Liverpool:
Just a month or so earlier, with neither side having covered themselves in glory up to this point, Wolves pulled off something of a shock result.
A Joel Matip own goal set the tone early on and Craig Dawson quickly made things go from bad to worse for Klopp’s men. Liverpool tried to work their way back into the game only for Ruben Neves to take Wolves out of sight of the visitors in the 71st minute.
17th January 2023- Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-1 Liverpool:
An FA Cup tie that required a replay is the reason for the fixture congestion of this duo in the early of months of 2023.
Harvey Elliot scored the only goal of the game at Molineux and booked Liverpool’s place in the fourth round as a result. That was then the end of the road for the Reds as well though, losing to eventual semi-finalists Brighton and Hove Albion thanks to a Karou Mitoma strike at the death at the Amex.
7th January 2023- Liverpool 2-2 Wolverhampton Wanderers:
As you’ve probably guessed, this game ended in a draw, setting up the aforementioned replay as a result.
The visitors took the lead through former Valencia man Goncalo Guedes but Darwin Nunez hit back just before half-time and then Salah flipped the fixture on its head. Hee-chan Hwang then beat Alisson to set up a grandstand finish and an eventual replay at Molineux.
22nd May 2022- Liverpool 3-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers:
This fixture had a lot riding on it for hosts Liverpool, despite it being the final day of the season. Wolves were nowhere near the relegation zone and instead had their sights set on the top half whilst Liverpool had the title on the line.
Manchester City made a meal of it but were able to get the three points and secure another Premier League trophy, meaning that Liverpool’s 3-1 win over Wolves at Anfield was all in vain.
Who has played for both Wolverhampton Wanderers and Liverpool?
Paul Ince (Liverpool 1997-1999; Wolverhampton Wanderers 2002-2006)
Reading Paul Ince’s achievements with Manchester United and then Liverpool are like night and day. He won two Premier Leagues, two FA Cups and a European Cup Winner’s Cup during his time at the Old Trafford and then ended his two-year stint at Anfield with nothing to show for it.
Fast forward a few years and Ince played for Wolverhampton Wanderers, helping them to get promoted via the playoffs and into the Premier League. He was in his late 30s when he left Wolves and so was clearly winding down in his career.
Conor Coady (Liverpool 2011-2014; Wolverhampton Wanderers 2015-2023)
Longtime captain Wolverhampton Wanderers Conor Coady has previously admitted to being a Liverpool fan and he actually graduated from their academy.
Coady only made one Premier League appearance for them though and so moved on to Huddersfield Town. After just one year with the Terriers he then joined Wolves and having amassed nearly 300 league appearances for them, including of course playing a key role in the side that won the Championship under Nuno Espirito Santo, the rest as they say, is history. The 30-year-old is now back playing in the second-tier with Leicester City.
Diogo Jota (Wolverhampton Wanderers 2017-2020; Liverpool 2020-current)
One current Liverpool player arrived via Wolves in the form of Diogo Jota. He announced himself to English fans in the black and gold and his success was noticed by Klopp and co as they then snapped him up in 2020.
Since then, he has been a very capable forward for Liverpool although an injury here or there hasn’t helped in terms of playing regular football.
What is Wolverhampton Wanderers’ biggest win over Liverpool?
7th December 1946: Liverpool 1-5 Wolverhampton Wanderers
For Wolverhampton Wanderers’ biggest victory in this fixture, you have to travel back in time almost 80 years. Four goals in the first half from Dennis Westcott set the two apart and secured a monumental 5-1 win for Wolves at Anfield, against a side that contained a certain Bob Paisley.
What is Liverpool’s biggest win over Wolverhampton Wanderers?
28th September 1968: Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-6 Liverpool
Coming 20 or so years closer to the present now as we arrive at one of Liverpool’s two 6-0 drubbings of Wolves. The Reds shared the goals around a bit more with Alun Evans (formerly of Wolves), Peter Thompson and Roger Hunt all notching braces. Hunt is the record league goal scorer of all time for Liverpool and was also a member of the World Cup-winning squad in 1966.
Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Liverpool: Key stats
This will be the 19th league meeting between the two clubs in the Premier League era Wolverhampton Wanderers and Liverpool haven’t drawn any of their last three matches against each other Liverpool haven’t lost in 5 matches Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Liverpool: Famous fixtures
16th September 1963- Liverpool 6-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers:
As previously mentioned, Liverpool have beaten Wolverhampton Wanderers by six goals to nil on two separate occasions. The first one which took place five years prior, meant slightly more.
Hunt and Thompson were both on the score sheet this time as well and the significance enters as they went on to win the title that year. That being said, Bobby Moore was named as Football of the Year and Jimmy Greaves was top goal scorer, representing West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur respectively.
12th February 1949- Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-1 Liverpool:
Continuing the time warp and we return to the 1940s when again, we’re discussing a Wolves victory.
This 3-1 victory came in the round of 16 in the FA Cup, a trophy that Wolves would hoist aloft come the end of the season. After beating Liverpool, Stan Cullis’ men went on to overcome West Bromwich Albion, Manchester United after a replay and then, in the final, Leicester City.