Wolves vs Liverpool Prediction: Old Gold to go down fighting at Molineux

After losing four of their first five games - taking just a single point - Wolverhampton Wanderers sit bottom of the Premier League table heading into the weekend, and things don't get any easier for the Old Gold with the visit of Liverpool to Molineux on Saturday evening (17:30, Sky Sports Main Event).

Read below for my Wolves vs Liverpool prediction, complete with all the latest team news and match odds, as Gary O'Neil and Arne Slot go head-to-head in the West Midlands.

Team News

Wolves' injury list, which already contained Sasa Kalajdzic, Enso Gonzalez, Leon Chiwome, Bastien Meupiyou and Boubacar Traore, was made even longer by the serious knee problem sustained by Yerson Mosquera in last weekend's 3-1 defeat at Aston Villa.

O'Neil will hope to have Portugal international Toti back fit to cover for the Colombian defender, but if the 25-year-old fails to return from his three-game absence, the Wolves boss may have to call upon Uruguayan centre-back Santiago Bueno to partner Craig Dawson.

Football Odds

Alisson Becker has missed Liverpool's last two games - a 3-0 Premier League victory over AFC Bournemouth last Saturday and a 5-1 Carabao Cup thrashing of West Ham United in midweek - but should be fit to return in goal on Saturday in place of Caoimhin Kelleher.

Reds head coach Slot is expected to largely revert to the starting XI which lined up against Bournemouth at Anfield, meaning Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk and Andy Robertson are set to come in for Conor Bradley, Jarell Quansah, Joe Gomez and Kostas Tsimikas.

Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai will start in midfield with Mohamed Salah and Luis Diaz providing the width, and those five changes will see Wataru Endo, Curtis Jones, Federico Chiesa and Cody Gakpo drop to the bench, leaving just one more spot to fill between Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez, who both started on Wednesday against the Irons.

Jota bagged a brace inside 50 minutes and should get the nod against his old side at Molineux.

Harvey Elliott remains sidelined through injury.

Wolves vs Liverpool Odds

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Wolves are 15/2 to triumph for the first time in the Premier League this season, giving the Old Gold an implied win probability of 11.2%, while Liverpool are 4/11, or a 73.3% chance, to win for the seventh time under Slot, and fifth in the league.

The draw is priced at 9/2, both teams to score at 4/6, and over 2.5 total goals at 4/9.

Salah (19/20) is favourite to score anytime on Saturday followed by teammates Jota (6/5), Nunez (5/4) and Diaz (6/4), while Jorgen Strand Larsen and Matheus Cunha (11/4) lead the market for the hosts.

Match Result & Both Teams to Score - Liverpool & Yes @ 6/4

Things couldn't have gone much better at the start of the Slot era, with Liverpool winning six of their seven matches so far under the Dutchman and keeping four clean sheets. The only disappointment was the 1-0 home defeat to Nottingham Forest in mid-September, when the Reds were unable to break down a stubborn defence and paid the ultimate price.

They've responded superbly to that first setback, however, beating AC Milan 3-1 in the Champions League at San Siro, Bournemouth 3-0 in the Premier League, and West Ham 5-1 in the Carabao Cup - three competitions, three wins.

Slot's side now travel to the Premier League's bottom club, Wolves, who are pointless after their first five Premier League games, although they were dealt a difficult fixture list in the first month, losing 2-0 at Arsenal on the opening weekend before suffering a 6-2 humbling at home to Chelsea eight days later.

A 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest on the final day of August was a creditable result but a 2-1 defeat to Newcastle United at Molineux and a 3-1 loss at Aston Villa - either side of a 3-2 Carabao Cup exit at Brighton & Hove Albion - has heaped the pressure on O'Neil heading into the weekend.

When it rains, it pours for the Englishman, who now has to contend with a Liverpool team in rampant form, with the Reds netting 11 times across their last three games.

Wolves are yet to keep a Premier League clean sheet this season, shipping 14 goals across five matches so far - only Everton (14) have conceded as many - and you'd be a brave person to back them shutting out Salah, Diaz and co this weekend.

I think the visitors should be able to score a couple at least on Saturday, but I fancy Wolves to grab a consolation at the very least. The hosts have scored in four successive league games after blanking at Arsenal on August 17 and have found the net in their last two home games against Liverpool, winning 3-0 at Molineux in February 2023 and striking first in a 3-1 defeat there last September.

Liverpool have the best defensive record in the Premier League after five matches, having conceded just once - versus Forest - but Bournemouth shot 19 times at Anfield last weekend, forcing Kelleher into seven saves, and were only denied an early lead by a VAR intervention. The Reds have also conceded in their last two cup ties, going a goal down to Milan in the Champions League and to West Ham on Wednesday in the Carabao Cup.

Player to Receive a Card - Nelson Semedo (WOL) @ 11/4

Liverpool have come out on top in their last three meetings with Wolves, but something else in those three games has caught my eye ahead of their latest encounter on Saturday; in all three matches, Wolves right-back Nelson Semedo has been carded.

Starting with Liverpool's 2-0 win at Anfield in March 2023, the Portugal international was booked after just 36 minutes and made three fouls in total. Over six months later, in the Reds' 3-1 victory at Molineux last September, he committed two fouls and received a yellow card for time wasting. Then, in a 2-0 triumph for Jurgen Klopp in his final game as Liverpool boss on the final day of last season in May, Semedo gave away two free-kicks and was sent off for the second foul he made.

So, Semedo has received a card in each of his last three games against Liverpool, which makes his price of 11/4 to be booked on Saturday, a rather appealing one.

It's not some strange quirk either - Semedo has received 11 yellows and one red in each of the last two Premier League seasons and was shown a second yellow in just three matches this term in last weekend's defeat at Villa Park.

The 30-year-old is averaging two fouls per game and on Saturday will be up against a tricky customer in Diaz, who could twist and turn his marker, forcing the Wolves defender to chop the Colombian winger down and be scribbled into the referee's notebook for his misdemeanours.

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