TOWN MUST KEEP BEING ROAD HOGGS
Wolves boss Nuno says he bears no grudges that Diogo left to join the Kop: ‘I’ll hug and kiss him afterwards’
JONATHAN HOGG is hoping away wins are like buses after Huddersfield ended a five-month wait for a three-point haul.
The Terriers skipper returned from a four-game lay-off to put in an inspirational shift in front of the back four at QPR.
His work in shutting down dangermen Ilias Chair and former Terrier Chris Willock paved the way for Juninho Bacuna’s 55th-minute winner (above).
Hogg revealed boss Carlos Corberan pinpointed this trip and Wednesday’s derby at Sheffield Wednesday as key games.
Now the midfielder wants backto-back away wins for the first time since February 2017, when a win at QPR was followed by victory at Rotherham.
“We spoke at the start of the week about the next two games being massive for the end of our season,” he said. “We’ve ticked one off with a massive performance and a great clean sheet.
“Our away record hasn’t been great this year. It’s something we can work on and something we know as a group we need to put right. We need to make sure we back it up this week.”
Rangers paid the price for failing to score when they were on top in the final 20 minutes of the first-half. Todd Kane fluffed the best of their chances when he allowed keeper Ryan Schofield to block his shot.
Bacuna fired a similar chance into the top left corner of the net.
QPR boss Mark Warburton said: “We didn’t really do enough to get anything. We have to put it behind us now and go again on Wednesday against Millwall.”
QPR:
vMolineux, 8pm
WOLVES manager Nuno Espirito Santo has vowed to give Molineux old boy Diogo Jota a hug and a kiss tonight.
Wanderers know better than anyone how big a threat the Liverpool forward can be but Nuno is looking forward to giving his Portuguese compatriot a huge West Midlands welcome.
Jota (right) scored 44 goals in 131 appearances for the Molineux side, including hattricks in the Europa League last season against Besiktas and Espanyol.
It followed his successful loan spell – from Atletico Madrid – in their 2017-18 Championship-winning campaign before a £12.8million permanent switch in 2018.
Now the Portuguese international, who signed for Liverpool in the close season
Patricio, Dendocker, Coady, Saiss, Semedo, Neves, Moutinho, Jonny, Neto, Da Silva, Traore
Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Phillips, Kabak, Robertson, Thiago, Fabinho, Wijnaldum, Salah, Jota, Mane
Craig Pawson for £41m, makes his first return to his old stamping ground. And Nuno, celebrating a Jota goal for Wolves (above, right) promised: “I will give him a big hug and a kiss – this is how much I like him.
“If I see him before I will hug him strongly and at the end I will hug him no matter what because I have a big admiration for him. We had three years together. I am absolutely sure that, if Molineux was full, our fans would give him a huge reception.
“What Diogo did with us was amazing, beyond words. He was truly admired because he gave everything he had for the club. He joined us in the
Championship and put his life and heart here, which cannot ever be forgotten. He went to a fantastic club and is healthy again and playing football. We wish him all the best.” Tonight’s game will also see a reunion with Liverpool star Fabinho, who Nuno briefly coached at the start of his managerial career with Rio Ave in Portugal in 2012. He said: “Fabinho is an amazing player. We were together at the beginning at Rio Ave when he came to Europe. It was many years ago and I was just starting out. “We brought two players from Brazil – Filipe Augusto and Fabinho. We were together
Wolves have lost their last eight Premier League meetings with Liverpool since a 1-0 victory at Anfield in December 2010. Only against Brighton have they had a longer losing run in their league history (9 between 1979-1989).
Liverpool haven’t lost an away league game against Wolves since August 1981, winning four and drawing three of their seven trips to Molineux since.
Wolves have lost only one of their last seven Premier for two weeks when from out of nowhere he goes on loan to Real Madrid. I said: ‘Phew, I must have taught this boy very well.’
“He was a fantastic boy and an amazing football player. Then he went to Real Madrid, then Monaco and now on to Liverpool. He was not the player he is now and was just a young boy of talent.
“He was a right-back and I think he changed his natural position at Monaco under Leonardo Jardim, the manager who started putting him in midfield.
“I am delighted Fabinho is one of the many players I have had the pleasure to work with who have achieved good things in football. It is so nice.”
League matches (W3 D3), having lost four of their previous six outings prior to this run (D2).
Liverpool have lost nine Premier League matches this season, last losing more back in 2015-16 (10). A defeat here would be the earliest into a league season (29 games) they have suffered 10 losses since 2010-11, when their 10th defeat was in their 21st match.
Wolves are looking to record back-to-back home Premier League wins for only the second time in the last two seasons, winning their final two at Molineux in the 2019-20 season.
NAT PHILLIPS will get round to hanging the shirt from his Champions League debut on his wall.
But the Liverpool defender hopes it won’t be the last one he’s putting up.
Phillips (with boss Jurgen Klopp, above) played a pivotal role in the win over RB Leipzig last week as the Reds booked their place in the Champions League last eight.
“It was a massive night for me and my family,” said the Kop centre-back, expected to start alongside Ozan Kabak at Wolves tonight.
“I never thought at the end of last year and the start of this year that I would be playing Champions League football. I have kept the shirt that I wore and, when we are allowed to go out and about again, I will get it framed.
“But it is important to me that it does not become the biggest occasion or best game that I have ever played in. If you had asked me at the start of the season if I thought I was capable of playing in the Premier League, I would have said ‘Yeah’. But whether it was for Liverpool, I wasn’t sure. At a club like Liverpool you can never rest on your laurels.”
Having been loaned out for two spells at Stuttgart last season, it looked like the 23-year-old’s future may lie away from Anfield.
Now his ambition is to be part of a trophy-winning side.
“When Liverpool officially won the league last season I was still in Germany,” added Phillips (in action, below). “I drove into the training ground blasting ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ from the car.
“I saw how much it meant to those guys, and it made me feel jealous.
“It made me realise that I wanted to feel something like that one day.”