Wolverhampton Wanderers have climbed back out of the Premier League relegation zone courtesy of a 3-0 win over struggling Liverpool at Molineux.
Julen Lopetegui's side had slipped into the bottom three courtesy of Everton's shock win over Arsenal earlier in the day, but wasted no time in moving back above the dotted line as they took full advantage of Liverpool's current poor form.
The hosts were two goals to the good inside 12 minutes as an own goal from Joel Matip broke the deadlock before Craig Dawson marked his debut with a thunderous finish to double the advantage.
It was a nightmare start for Liverpool once again, leaving manager Jurgen Klopp incredulous on the sidelines, and it could have been worse before half time with chances for Matheus Nunes and Dawson going begging.
The Reds did at least show some improvement in the second half, but they failed to turn that into goals and another sorry performance was compounded 20 minutes from time when Ruben Neves added a third for the hosts, sealing a first home league win over Liverpool since 1981.
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Given that Liverpool had beaten Wolves at Molineux in the FA Cup just two-and-a-half weeks ago, were unbeaten at the stadium in their last nine league visits and had won 11 league games in a row against today's opponents home and away, it was a match Klopp may have viewed as an ideal one to stop the rot and finally earn a first top-flight win of 2023.
Any such thoughts were well and truly banished within 12 painful minutes for the Liverpool boss, though, as he saw more calamitous defending from his side allow Wolves - a team that had scored only 12 times all season before today - move into a 2-0 lead in double-quick time.
The first saw new signing Pablo Sarabia chip a ball forward which Matip allowed Hwang Hee-chan to take down unchallenged inside the box, and he was still not close enough when the Wolves striker turned the ball back into the middle, hitting the knee of Matip and deflecting in off the far post.
It was the first time that Wolves have netted in the opening five minutes of a league game all season, whereas Liverpool have conceded more goals than any other team in that period.
Matip's own goal also meant that Liverpool had already equalled last season's tally of goals conceded in only their 20th game of the current campaign, and they surpassed that unwanted total just seven minutes later.
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Once again, poor defending was to blame as Matheus Cunha was this time allowed to take the ball down inside the box from a corner, standing a cross into the box which Joe Gomez took off the fingertips of Alisson Becker, only to nod it straight back into a dangerous area.
The first Wolves shot was blocked, but the rebound then fell to January arrival Dawson, who blasted his finish past the keeper to put Molineux in dreamland.
The Reds were in danger of putting in a performance to rival the defeat at the hands of Brighton & Hove Albion last month - a performance Klopp labelled the worst of his entire coaching career - although they did steady the ship somewhat after their nightmare start.
Even so, Wolves could and perhaps should have added to their lead before half time, with Alisson denying Nunes one on one after he had caught a lackadaisical Matip in possession, and Dawson getting an unmarked header all wrong.
In response, Liverpool could only conjure half-chances for Darwin Nunez, Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold, although none of them truly tested Jose Sa in the Wolves goal.
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The visitors did improve in the second half, with Salah curling wide on his 200th appearance for the club and Nunez squandering their best chance when he fired straight at Sa after being released by a defence-splitting Alexander-Arnold pass.
A comeback the like of which we have seen so often under Klopp never looked likely, though, and any such hope was extinguished once and for all when Neves made a late burst into the box to collect Adama Traore's pass and calmly finish off a slick counter-attack - the first time Wolves have scored three in a league game since March.
Raul Jimenez had a late chance to make things even better for the hosts too, as their revival under Lopetegui continued - this the first time they have won back-to-back home league games since November 2021.
Liverpool, meanwhile, have now lost six of their 10 Premier League away games this season including each of their last three, while conceding exactly three goals in each of those, and their away record for the season stands at just eight points from a possible 30.
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Just as concerning is the fact that the Reds have now failed to score in three successive games for the first time since January 2021.
The defeat leaves Liverpool 10th in the Premier League table, still 10 points adrift of the Champions League places - although that gap could increase to 13 if Newcastle United beat West Ham United in the day's late game.
Wolves, meanwhile, rise up to 15th in the table, now two points clear of the relegation zone with Everton slipping back into the bottom three.
Incidentally, Liverpool meet Everton in the Merseyside derby in their next outing, while Wolves visit fellow relegation contenders Southampton.
Barney Corkhill
