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Liverpool player ratings vs Wolves: Virgil van Dijk among Reds' flops as Arne Slot's side suffer big blow to top-five hopes at Premier League's bottom club

Liverpool did manage to draw themselves level through Mohamed Salah, but the Egyptian's first league goal since November rather tellingly came from a misplaced pass from Jean-Ricner Bellegarde - as if to underline the visitors' inability to create chances from open play without the injured Florian Wirtz.

At that point, Arne Slot's side still looked the more likely winners, but they ended up slumping to another embarrassing defeat in a season of shocking setbacks after conceding an injury-time winner for a record-breaking fifth time across a single Premier League campaign, with Joe Gomez deflecting a long-range Andre shot past Alisson Becker.

GOAL rates all of the Liverpool players on show at Molineux...

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    Goalkeeper & Defence

    Alisson Becker (4/10):

    Didn't have a save to make before being beaten by Gomes' clever finish, after arguably being a little too slow off his line. Definitely at fault, though, for an awful clearance that led to Wolves' winner.

    Jeremie Frimpong (5/10):

    The fit-again Dutchman came into the line-up in place of Gomez after an encouraging cameo against West Ham at the weekend, but he was guilty of a dreadful attempt on goal after being teed up by Ekitike, and although he got forward a lot in the second half, his final ball was lacking.

    Ibrahima Konate (5/10):

    Utterly untroubled up until the Wolves goal, where he was guilty of giving Rodrigo Gomes too much room.

    Virgil van Dijk (4/10):

    Like his central defensive partner, the Dutchman was coasting through the game when he got pushed out of the way by Arokodare far too easily, thus allowing the Nigerian to put Gomes away to score with a terrific through-ball. Also missed a great headed opportunity at the death to put his team ahead - which he couldn't quite believe himself.

    Milos Kerkez (5/10):

    Always looked to get forward when he could but he looked a little jaded by the hour, so it wasn't a surprise to see him come off.

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    Midfield

    Ryan Gravenberch (3/10):

    Very harshly booked for a 'foul' on Joao Gomes in the 21st minute but probably shouldn't have gone to ground in the first place and he recklessly ran the risk of a red card for the remainder of the first half with a number of ill-advised challenges. Unsurprisingly replaced by Jones during the interval.

    Alexis Mac Allister (5/10):

    One of the few Liverpool players on it during the first half, the Argentine was a lively presence in midfield, pressing well and picking out team-mates in promising positions with his progressive passing. However, he faded the longer the game went on, and was needlessly caught in possession on a couple of occasions.

    Dominik Szoboszlai (5/10):

    Not quite as dynamic as usual but won plenty of possession for his side, while he also retained the ball well.

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    Attack

    Mohamed Salah (5/10):

    Pounced on Bellegarde 's poor pass to draw Liverpool level with an outside-of-the-boot finish (that Sa probably should have saved), but don't let the goal fool you. Salah was once again poor for almost the entire match and butchered one glorious breakaway shortly after scoring.

    Hugo Ekitike (6/10):

    The Frenchman embarked upon one blistering break from inside his own half too create a chance for Frimpong, while it was his near-post flick-on that really should have been turned in by Jones. However, he was criminally starved of service for the most part and cut a frustrated figure long before the end. In games like this, you also get the feeling that Ekitike would be better off playing out wide or off a proper No.9, given he doesn't want to play as a static target man.

    Cody Gakpo (4/10):

    Probably Liverpool's best attacking outlet in the first half, though that's not saying much, and after contributing little after the interval, he was taken off shortly after the hour mark.

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    Subs & Manager

    Curtis Jones (5/10):

    An unexpectedly early entrance for the Scouser due to Gravenberch's ill-discipline and nearly made an instant impact, only to somehow chest the ball up and onto the bar from about a yard out - though he may have been impeded by Gakpo trying to get his foot on the Ekitike's header.

    Rio Ngumoha (6/10):

    Took over on the left wing from Gakpo and immediately offered more of a direct threat. The youngster was also so unlucky to see one low effort strike the post.

    Andy Robertson (5/10):

    Part of a double-substitution with Ngumoha in the 65th minute, with the Scot replacing Kerkez at left-back, but unsurprisingly didn't offer the same dynamism.

    Joe Gomez (N/A):

    Came on for an exhausted Frimpong with less than 20 minutes to go and unluckily won the game for Wolves by deflecting Andre's speculative effort past his own goalkeeper.

    Federico Chiesa (N/A): 

    Thrown on in place of Konate as Liverpool tried to turn the game around but saw a last-gasp effort easily saved by Sa.

    Arne Slot (3/10):

    Introducing Frimpong to the side that beat West Ham should have made Liverpool more dangerous, but nearly the entire team was flat during the first half, which suggests that Slot still has a problem getting his players in the right frame of mind. The second half was, ironically, much better - for a while - but another injury-time defeat only casts further doubt on Liverpool's mentality. Long story short, Slot still has a lot of problems to solve if the Reds are to salvage their season.

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