Arne Slot had made his thoughts clear earlier in the week when he was asked about the quality of the Premier League. He candidly expressed his dissatisfaction with the current state of play, saying it didn’t appeal to his “football heart.”

His assessment was only reinforced after Liverpool’s performance on a dreary night. The team played cautiously, akin to a cricketer avoiding big hits and opting instead for safe singles, hoping to gradually increase their score. However, their strategy backfired, leaving them defeated.

For Wolves, this match was a resounding success and well-earned. Despite a season lacking in highlights, the arrival of manager Rob Edwards has revitalized the team, bringing renewed spirit and remarkable victories. Yet, this dramatic win stood out as the pinnacle of their achievements so far.

Edwards reflected on the victory by stating, “We have to enjoy it. We aren’t as bad as people thought.”

Whether this win is enough to secure Wolves’ survival in the league is uncertain. But in this moment, the team’s fans celebrated to the tunes of Status Quo and even Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin, as Slot exited the stadium in frustration.

Andre’s deflected strike in stoppage time gave Wolves a famous win over Liverpool

The Brazilian’s effort hit Joe Gomez and looped up and over Alisson to give Wolves victory

It’s a scene Slot has witnessed too frequently. Andre’s goal in the 94th minute marked the fifth occasion this season that Liverpool has let a game slip away, setting an unenviable Premier League record that surely stings their pride.

‘It’s the same old story,’ Slot said forlornly. ‘It sums up our season.’

It is a season that remains on the precipice. There is a realm in which Liverpool finish the campaign with a piece of silverware, safely parked in the top four, but the parallel universe – the one that most likely – sees them potless and excluded from the positions that carry such importance.

A game that, in reality, should have been straightforward for a team that is pursuing a place in next season’s Champions League morphed into the equivalent of listening to a sermon on economics in a stuffy, poorly ventilated lecture theatre: a recipe to leave you dozing.

Backwards and sideways Liverpool went and while at one stage they had 41 touches in the Wolves penalty area, they were predictable and slovenly and never looked capable of blowing down the opposition house. When they huff and puff like this, they look distinctly ordinary.

They had plenty of the ball to start with but did next to nothing with it. There was one moment of light, when Hugo Ekitike set off like a tap dancer crossing a ballroom, all fast feet and elastic legs, but after covering 60 yards with grace, Jeremie Frimpong bludgeoned his shooting chance over the bar.

This was Liverpool in a nutshell. As Wolves worked stoically, with the impressive Joao Gomes catching the eye, the overriding impression was that Slot’s men had, carelessly, allowed another 45 minutes to bypass them.

Rodrigo Gomes’ superb finish put the Premier League’s bottom side ahead in the second half

Mo Salah equalised shortly after to give the Reds hope of a late comeback at Molineux

But Arne Slot’s side were beaten at the death in a huge blow to their Champions League hopes

It wasn’t quite like their abject efforts the last time they were in Middle England, at Nottingham Forest on February 22, but it was laboured, horribly so. Slot spent plenty of time pacing, head bowed with his hand stuffed in his pockets, desperately hoping for respite. It would never come.

These were the nights when, historically, Mo Salah would shatter the gloom like a bolt of lightning, hurtling in from the right with the ball glued to his foot, taking the responsibility on his shoulders to find a way forward for his team.

Salah had scored the winner at this stadium last season, thrashing home a penalty, but at the moment the man who looked like he could walk on water now resembles someone wading through treacle, the pizzazz worryingly absent.

The incident which summed up his night more than anything came in the 66th minute when, after more patient play, Alexis Mac Allister rolled a pass out to him on the corner of the area but the Egyptian’s shot cleared the bar by a bigger distance than Frimpong.

History also tells you that it is wrong to make a definitive conclusion on Salah. He’s been too ferocious a competitor and too consistent with his numbers to make a snap judgement, but this worrying sequence was heading to an 11th Premier League without a goal.

Just when all seemed lost, he burst into life. Wolves had taken the lead when Rodrigo Gomes scuttled away from Ibrahima Konate, after Virgil van Dijk had meekly lost a challenge to Tolu, but salvation appeared to have come when Salah intervened.

A loose ball arrived at his feet, he charged forward as those in Old Gold backed off and, with just enough goal to aim at, he fizzed a shot that beat Jose Sa and left Wolves sick. He didn’t celebrate, mind you, as you suspect he knew Liverpool were vulnerable.

So it proved to be. Alisson’s poor kick put Liverpool into trouble and with the lines not cleared, Andre had a chance to shoot. Andre’s effort took a deflection off Joe Gomez and it looped painfully over the Brazilian keeper. Cue bedlam – the kind which absolutely should be enjoyed.