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Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp reminded his players of the importance of winning challenges after a 2-2 FA Cup third-round draw against Wolverhampton Wanderers on 8 January.
The Reds fell behind after a huge error from Alisson Becker gifted Goncalo Guedes a goal in the 25th minute. A superb first-time finish from Darwin Nunez's weaker left foot equalized the scoreline just before the half-time whistle.
In the second half, Wolves defender Toti messed up a headed clearance to send the ball straight into Mohamed Salah's feet inside the box. The Egyptian made no mistake and slotted the ball past goalkeeper Matija Sarkic.
A scrappy 66th-minute goal from Hwang-hee Chan meant that the two sides will now play a replay at Molineux. Liverpool won just 43% of their duels in the game against Wolves.
They were also seemingly a step behind Wolves players at times on the field and made a few challenges that could have been flagged as fouls, but weren't. This performance came on the back of a scrappy 2-1 win against Leicester City and a 3-1 loss against Brentford.
After the game, Klopp said: (h/t Liverpool Echo):
"It doesn’t matter how you play, you have to win challenges. There is no alternative. It’s something I mentioned already in the dressing room and I will mention it again."
He highlighted that the Reds' defense can and has looked open at times due to his players not winning important challenges. Klopp added:
"I can understand it looks open in moments but it’s just open because we think we win the challenges but don’t win it. That’s then really tricky to deal with in the end."
"It’s not that they had chance after chance. It causes us a lot of effort to put it right in the end. If you are already there, you can win it where you are then you don’t have to run back and try and solve the problems there."
Liverpool's seven-game winning run vs Wolves broken after FA Cup draw
Before the draw at Anfield, Liverpool had beaten Wolves in seven consecutive games across competitions.
All of these games came in the Premier League. Coincidentally, the Molineux outfit have beaten the Reds in their last three cup ties.
The last time Liverpool prevailed over them in a knockout game was on 2 February 1952, when they won 2-1 in a fourth-round FA Cup game. They will now have a chance to end this 71-year-long run when they face Wolves in a third-round replay on 4 February away from home.
Manager Julen Lopetegui made nine changes to his Wolves side that drew 1-1 against Aston Villa earlier this week. It will be interesting to see how the two teams line up in the replay.
