Liverpool vs Wolves three key battles: The men Jurgen Klopp has to stop

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 29: Sadio Mane of Liverpool closed down by Ryan Bennett of Wolverhampton Wanderers during the Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Wolverhampton Wanderers at Anfield on December 29, 2019 in Liverpool, United Kingdom. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 29: Sadio Mane of Liverpool closed down by Ryan Bennett of Wolverhampton Wanderers during the Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Wolverhampton Wanderers at Anfield on December 29, 2019 in Liverpool, United Kingdom. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
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Liverpool vs Wolves three key battles Virgil van Dijk
WOLVERHAMPTON, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 21: Raul Jimenez of Wolves holds off pressure from Dejan Lovren of Liverpool during the Premier League match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Liverpool FC at Molineux on December 22, 2018 in Wolverhampton, United Kingdom. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Virgil van Dijk vs Raúl Jiménez

Raúl Jiménez is the glue that holds this whole Wolves attack together and it will be up to Virgil van Dijk to stop him from operating.

He’s got bags of goals, he creates chances and he puts on assists. Jiménez has played in every game Santo has managed, he’s vital to how they play and if van Dijk can prevent the Mexican from doing his thing then it will go a long way to helping the Reds earn all three points on Thursday.

That 16 goal involvement in the top flight this campaign is an excellent return for the forward as well, and he’s got the type of work rate that Klopp would be able to appreciate – and demands – from his players.

Virgil will be forced to defend against this in training and that will be excellent preparation for Thursday. Jiménez is a different type of player to Firmino and will be more of a physical presence as he’ll try and harass and goad the back four into a mistake.

If Liverpool stop Jiménez, they stop a large part of the way Wolves will plan to attack and then they can concentrate on themselves moving forward.