The top-ranked team in the Premier League, Liverpool, suffered a setback by fielding a weakened team and getting knocked out in the third round of the FA Cup with a 2-1 loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday. Wolverhampton took the lead through Raul Jimenez’s goal in the 38th minute after an assist from Diogo Jota bypassed James Milner.
Liverpool, a seven-time FA Cup winner, equalized in the 51st minute with Divock Origi, the Belgian forward, scoring a well-executed goal from close range. However, Wolves scored the winning goal just four minutes later when Ruben Neves struck a brilliant long-range shot from 30 yards out.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp fielded a team with young talents like midfielder Curtis Jones and full-back Rafael Camacho. The team faced an early setback in the 6th minute when defender Dejan Lovren had to be substituted due to a hamstring injury, with the 16-year-old Ki-Jana coming on as his replacement.
Ki-Jana, who joined Liverpool from Ajax last September, held his own alongside Jerome Sinclair and Jack Robinson, making history as the youngest player to feature in a senior game for the team in the FA Cup.
Klopp expressed his frustration over Lovren’s injury, especially with other defenders like Joe Gomez and Joel Matip sidelined. Klopp stated, “I am not sure what you all would have said if from the get-go our center-back pairing was Fabinho and Ki-Jana; then probably some very clever people would accuse me of not respecting the competition or something like that.”
Wolves’ reward is a fourth-round draw against the winner of the replay between Shrewsbury Town and Stoke City. Wolves manager Nuno Espirito Santo was thrilled with the team’s performance, saying, “I am very happy; the team played excellently in a difficult match. We capitalized on our opportunities.”
