Prediction: Liverpool vs Wolverhampton Wanderers

Verdict: Total home goals over 2.5

Best odds: 8/11

Bookmaker: Betfair

The final day of the 2021-22 Premier League season is approaching, and it will be an exciting one at both ends of the table. At Anfield, Liverpool will be welcoming Wolverhampton Wanderers, and while watching their heroes in action, their supporters will surely be keeping one eye on developments at the Etihad.

Liverpool

The Merseysiders have won the Carabao and the FA Cup, both by beating Chelsea on penalties in the final, and their journey towards the fabled quadruple now depends on what happens on Sunday. As things stand ahead of the final round, they are one point behind Manchester City, and the defending champions will be hosting Aston Villa at the same time. Six days later, Liverpool will be facing Real Madrid in the final of the Champions League.

Liverpool supporters will obviously be hoping that their former captain Steven Gerrard, along with a pair of their former players in Philippe Coutinho and Danny Ings, can do them a favour and stop Pep Guardiola’s machinery on Sunday.

Jurgen Klopp’s team won four of their last six matches over 90 minutes in all competitions. They beat Newcastle away by 0-1, Villarreal away in the Champions League semifinal by 2-3, drew 1-1 at home against Tottenham Hotspur, beat Aston Villa away by 1-2, played the goalless draw which preceded the penalty shootout in the FA Cup final against Chelsea, and eventually beat Southampton 1-2 at St. Mary’s earlier this week.

Team News

Liverpool have a couple of injury worries ahead of this clash, and though nobody has been ruled out at this point, midfielder Fabinho, centre-back Virgil van Dijk, versatile defender Joe Gomez and forward Mohamed Salah are all doubts.

If Fabinho isn’t ready, captain Jordan Henderson is the likeliest candidate to take his place ahead of the back line. Trent Alexander-Arnold will surely take his place on the right defensive flank with Gomez not 100% ready. Joel Matip and Ibrahima Konate will start in the heart of defence if Van Dijk can’t make it, and if Salah is out, it’ll be either Diogo Jota or Roberto Firmino alongside Sadio Mane and Luis Diaz upfront.

Thiago Alcantara is also likely to return to the lineup having made way for Curtis Jones against Southampton.

Having announced the departure of Divock Origi from the club this summer, Klopp is also likely to give Liverpool’s indisputable cult hero a runout at some point to give him an opportunity to say goodbye to the Anfield faithful, providing the situation on the pitch allows.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Wolves will be coming to Anfield with no pressure to deliver a result at all, sitting in eighth place and unable to climb any further with a five-point gap separating them from West Ham in seventh. However, that doesn’t mean they won’t give it their best to have their say in the title race and spoil the fun for their hosts, just like Aston Villa over in Manchester.

A place just above the middle of the Premier League table is probably a realistic one for this Wolves team, and they’ll likely be happy at the club with the way the season, the first under Bruno Lage, has gone. Still, they might feel a tad disappointed with not booking a place in one of the European competitions.

On the other hand, Lage shouldn’t be too pleased with the results his team racked up in their last six matches, which consist of two draws and four defeats. They lost 1-0 away to Newcastle, 1-0 away to Burnley, and 0-3 at home against Brighton and Hove Albion, before pulling a surprise 2-2 draw away to Chelsea. Then they were thrashed 1-5 at home by Manchester City, and eventually drew 1-1 at home against bottom side Norwich City.

Team News

There are no fresh injury concerns, or good news, for that matter, for Lage. Defenders Max Kilman, Romain Saiss and Nelson Semedo are all out. Attacking midfielder Daniel Podence returned for the final 15 minutes of the Norwich match following a foot injury, and he could be given a start this time.

Conclusion

Whatever happens in this match, Wolves players will probably remember that they had a role to play in the Premier League title race on the last day of the season. That role, however, is only likely to be to lose to a team of vast quality with everything to play for. Whether that proves enough for Liverpool to win the title remains to be seen, but winning this match shouldn’t really come into question, and there should be plenty of chances, several ending as goals.

Verdict: Total home goals over 2.5

Best odds: 8/11

Bookmaker: Betfair