Liverpool are latest scalp as Wolves win AGAIN

Football writer Dan Edwards looks at the key talking points from Tuesday’s Premier League action.

They couldn’t, could they?

Less than two weeks ago Wolverhampton Wanderers sat bottom of the Premier League table with nine points from 26 games, the prospect of breaking Derby County’s 2007/08 record of 11 points is not entirely unrealistic.

They have since made Molineux a formidable venue, drawing with Championship leaders Arsenal before defeating Aston Villa and now Liverpool in the space of five days. Their 2-1 victory made Tuesday night’s headlines.

Wolves are the first lowest-ranked team in Premier League history to beat two top-five ranked teams in consecutive matches.

With 14 points since Christmas, they now have 16 points to their name and are 11 points behind 17th-placed Nottingham Forest, who face Manchester City on Wednesday. They have eight games left to play, with 24 points up for grabs.

Four of Wolves’ last eight league matches are against teams currently in the bottom six: West Ham United, Leeds United, Tottenham Hotspur and Burnley. None of their remaining opponents are in the top six.

Rob Edwards’ side frustrated Liverpool for much of this match, but a victory never looked particularly likely until Rodrigo Gomes gave them the lead in the 78th minute with their first shot.

This is Opta’s penultimate record (from 2006/07) that a team has scored with their first shot in a Premier League match, following Fulham v Newcastle United in October 2022 (88th minute).

Liverpool responded quickly through Mohamed Salah, who scored his first Premier League goal since November 1, but Wolves were not ready to give up.

It took a bit of luck – a deflected strike from Andre in the fourth minute of injury time – to give Wolves all three points, but they will remember the jubilant celebrations longer than the goal itself.

Head coach Edwards’ sprint down the touchline was described as “full Jose Mourinho” by TNT Sports commentator Darren Fletcher.

“I know I got lost at that point,” Edwards joked with TNT Sports. “People might think we’re last in the league, but you’ve seen the energy around this place. You have to take advantage of it. We’re trying to change things.”

“At 1-1, if there is another goal, we expect Liverpool. We almost had to win the game twice. That’s what makes me so happy.”

It’s a familiar feeling for Liverpool, who have now lost five Premier League matches to goals scored in the 90th minute or later this season – the most ever by a team in a single campaign.

“We are losing too many football matches and losing points,” lamented Arne Slot after the match. “The three times we’ve lost in the last 22 games have all come in overtime.”

These clubs will do it again on Friday when Wolves host Liverpool at Molineux in the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Elsewhere, three teams chasing European football – Bournemouth, Brentford and Everton – were all in action on Tuesday night, and it was the Toffees who made up the most ground with a 2-0 win over Burnley.

England, represented by the Premier League, is currently in the lead UEFA coefficient tablemeaning that – as was the case last season – a seventh place finish could well be enough to secure a place in a European competition.

Everton are now eighth and just two points off sixth place ahead of Wednesday’s matches.

They have one of the league’s unsung heroes this season, midfielder James Garner, and his quality was evident for all to see once again, as he finished the Burnley game with the most touches (93), tackles (seven) and chances created (five) of any player.

It was his long, sought-after cross that allowed James Tarkowski to open the scoring against Burnley. It would be difficult to name five players with a better delivery in dead ball situations in the top flight, and it is qualities like this that could earn him a surprise place in Thomas Tuchel’s next England team.

Kieran Dewsbury-Hall scored his sixth goal of the season to give Everton a second-half lead; he had only scored three goals in total in his previous three Premier League campaigns.

There has been a revival of late for Burnley as they came from behind to pick up four points against Crystal Palace and Chelsea, but after two defeats in the space of four days they are starting to run out of time.

The gap with Nottingham Forest, 17th, is eight points.

Antoine Semenyo, Ilya Zabarnyi, Dean Huijsen, Milos Kerkez. These are just some of the names who have left Bournemouth since the end of last season, and yet they have only been beaten seven times in the Premier League in 2025/26.

Only the current top three – Arsenal (three), Man City (five) and Manchester United (five) – have lost fewer games.

They have, however, produced a league-high 13 draws this season, and perhaps their problem is that they are drawing too many games that they should have won; they will feel that tonight, against Brentford, was a great example.

With 1.99 expected goals (xG), tonight was the highest figure they have recorded this season without finding the back of the net. For comparison, Brentford’s xG totaled just 0.40.

The Cherries came close to scoring twice thanks to Marcus Tavernier, who became the first player since Salah in April 2025 to hit the woodwork twice in a Premier League match without getting on the scoresheet.

Brentford, who remain in the coveted seventh place, will no doubt be delighted to come away with a point. For Bournemouth, this must be seen as a missed opportunity.

Leeds players and supporters pride themselves on making Elland Road an intimidating stadium to visit, and this is especially true for evening matches under the lights.

Before tonight, Leeds were unbeaten in 22 consecutive league matches at Elland Road when this match kicked off at 7:00 p.m. or later, with Liverpool in April 2023 being the last team to defeat them in such an encounter.

They all looked set to extend that record when Joe Rodon found the net thanks to a typically clever delivery from Anton Stach in the 64th minute, but Leeds’ celebrations were cut short when Rodon was ruled offside.

Sunderland instead took the lead a few minutes later when Habib Diarra converted from the penalty spot. It was their only shot on target of the match, and one of three attempts in total.

Indeed, it was only the fifth Premier League game this season to see a team win via a single shot on target, with Sunderland accounting for two – they won by the same stat against Newcastle United in December.

The Black Cats have now reached the elusive 40-point mark, while Leeds remain entrenched in the relegation battle on 31 points – six clear of West Ham in 18th but with an extra game played.