It didn’t feel like bottom v top when Wolves succumbed to Liverpool. There was no major difference between the teams, but it is not surprising that those currently at the top had the greater quality at the critical moments, when Liverpool showed they could win without playing well, a trait that every team that competes for the title requires.

Rayan Aït-Nouri canceled out Ibrahima Konaté’s opener, after which Liverpool won a penalty immediately after the equalizer. From the spot, Mohamed Salah scored his fifth goal of the season to earn the points, even though his team did not reach the level expected by Arne Slot.

Gary O’Neil worked hard to sign Sam Johnstone over the summer as he felt the need to upgrade José Sá. As a goalkeeper, Johnstone has proven his quality over the years at a number of Premier League clubs, but at Wolves he is forced to play at the back and his footwork does not match his glovework. Poor passing and delaying his decision-making put pressure on his team and he was fortunate not to be punished by Liverpool on a few occasions early on.

Wolves started promisingly, maintaining possession without creating a dangerous opening, while Alisson enjoyed a break-in period after returning from a hamstring injury. In central midfield, the trio of João Gomes, Mario Lemina and André are working hard, but they are unlikely to find an opening with a clever pass. However, they were able to keep Liverpool’s triumvirate quiet, forcing them to go wide when attacking. Despite the odd scare, Wolves were able to deal with what Luis Díaz and Salah threw at them as the visitors tried without success to quickly turn defense into attack.

Liverpool got off to a slow start by their standards, struggling to find a rhythm and lacking the speed to break through the Wolves defence. Johnstone’s palms were finally stung on the half-hour mark when Trent Alexander-Arnold whipped a free-kick straight at him from 20 yards after André had been penalized for a lunge at Alexis Mac Allister. The Brazilian won the ball but referee Anthony Taylor was concerned about the reckless nature of the challenge.

Johnstone proved his worth when Dominik Szoboszlai ran away from Toti in the penalty area and met Andy Robertson’s precise cross six yards out, putting him in the perfect position to block the Hungarian’s side-footed volley.

However, the goalkeeper was unable to stop Konaté from a similar position in stoppage time of the first half. The centre-back stayed on his feet after a corner and floated above Toti to head in the opener from Johnstone’s fingertips from Diogo Jota’s looping cross.

There was mild farce as Lemina blindly passed the ball straight across his own penalty area to Salah. The Egyptian was presented with an open goal, but shot wide with his right foot. Liverpool should have been out of sight as they had the best three chances of the match with just one goal to show for their efforts.

They paid for their indiscretion in the 56th minute when Jørgen Strand Larsen chased down a pass, tried to clear Robertson, but the ball bounced off the striker and into the penalty area. Konaté had a simple task but failed to guide the ball out of play, allowing the Norwegian to win possession and hand the ball off to newly arrived substitute Carlos Borges, who miscontrolled the ball straight to Aït-Nouri, who bundled home.

Minutes later, however, another gift was sent to Liverpool when Nélson Semedo was adjudged to have brought down Jota in the penalty area. Salah stepped up to send Johnstone the wrong way from the spot.

Borges had the chance to level matters when he outwitted Robertson with a through ball, but he returned inside and saw his shot blocked by Konaté, making up for his earlier mistake. It summed up Wolves in the final third as they showed promise but lacked the clinical nature to make a difference. It doesn’t help that winless Wolves have the worst defensive record in the league, conceding 16 points in six games.

It wasn’t pretty for Liverpool, but looking down on everyone else it’s more about enjoying the view than worrying about the aesthetics of the platform.