Liverpool were far from their best against Wolves on Sunday but held out for a 2-1 win.
The Reds are embarking on a difficult run of fixtures, with Aston Villa, Man City and Newcastle all to come in the next ten days.
Before that tricky trio, Liverpool had been expected to comfortably see off Wolves at Anfield.
However, the Reds appeared to be suffering with something of a hangover from Wednesday’s dramatic finish in the Merseyside Derby.
Although they scored two first-half goals to go into the break relatively at ease, Liverpool felt off it all afternoon against Vitor Pereira’s side.
They were punished in the second-half as Matheus Cunha curled home a wonderful effort. And as Liverpool tired and Wolves pushed for the equaliser, two unlikely heroes stepped up for Arne Slot.
Jarell Quansah makes his mark
The player who embodied the feeling that something was not quite right about Liverpool on Sunday was Ibrahima Konate.
Jamie Carragher slammed Konate in the first-half after the French defender was perhaps slightly fortunate to avoid a red card.
Wisely, Slot took Konate off at half-time and replaced him with Jarell Quansah.
Quansah has not played a lot of football this season, having not started a Premier League match since the opening day of the season.
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But he made his presence felt late on against Wolves. After a ball was slid across the six-yard box, the Liverpool academy graduate got there just in time to prevent a certain goal.
“What a vital challenge,” raved Carragher on Sky Sports. “Maybe not just in this game but in terms of the Premier League title. Jarell Quansah, vital interception. Look at that, he just comes from nowhere. It feels like the attackers ahead of him. It’s a great ball in as well, maybe just behind him.”
Wataru Endo joins the party
Another player who hasn’t featured much in the league this season is Wataru Endo. The Japan captain is actually yet to start a single Premier League game this term.
However, Endo has been used by Slot when Liverpool need to see out games. And the Dutch coach turned to his No.3 with 20 minutes to go at Anfield.
It was a bit of a mixed performance from Endo, who gave away a couple of needless fouls in dangerous areas. But the 32-year-old also made one hugely important tackle on Pedro Lima to back Andy Robertson up deep into injury time.
“Endo’s given a couple of fouls away since he’s come on, but he’s won a few fouls himself and that one was vital,” said Carragher.
“If he hadn’t come across and snuffed out that danger, Liverpool would have been in real danger.”
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