Good evening and welcome to Sports Mole's live text coverage of the Premier League clash between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Liverpool at Molineux.
The home side come into their final match before Christmas in good form having won each of their last three games, and another victory tonight would see them climb above Manchester United into sixth.
Liverpool, meanwhile, have won their last six league games and would guarantee top spot on Christmas Day with a win which would temporarily take them four points clear of Manchester City.
Make sure you don't miss a moment of the action courtesy of our minute-by-minute updates below.
Both of these sides go into this game in fine form and have earned plaudits for their playing styles this season, so this really should be a good contest under the lights tonight.
We will have a close look at both teams a little later, but let's start by checking out the team news...
The first things to note from Jurgen Klopp's XI is that there is once again no room for Xherdan Shaqiri, who came off the bench and scored twice in a match-winning cameo against Manchester United on Sunday.
The stocky Swiss star will no doubt feel aggrieved not to have earned a place in the team, but Klopp appears to have gone for a 4-3-3 formation tonight.
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Fabinho and Naby Keita both keep their places from the win over United - the former of whom has a monstrous game against Liverpool's most bitter rivals - so Georginio Wijnaldum is the man to make way for Henderson in that trio.
Nathaniel Clyne impressed during his first appearance of the season in that position last weekend, but Milner was always expected to come back into the team if he had recovered from his minor muscle strain.
Mane got the opening goal against United, but it is Salah who has proven to be the main difference in these types of games during his Liverpool career so far. The Egyptian has been directly involved in 10 goals from eight Premier League games against newly-promoted teams for the Reds, scoring five and creating five more.
The hosts have plenty of danger men at their disposal, and interestingly tonight they have opted for the searing pace of Adama Traore to lead the line alongside Raul Jimenez.
Diogo Jota started alongside him last weekend but picked up a hamstring injury which rules him out for this game and opens the door for the mercurial Traore to test this Liverpool defence.
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The official team sheet suggests that it will be Joao Moutinho playing in the number 10 role behind the two strikers tonight, with compatriot Neves and Saiss in slightly deeper midfield positions.
That means three in defence once again, although the attacking full-backs Jonny and Matt Doherty will need to keep an eye on Salah and Mane on the flanks tonight and make sure they don't go too gung-ho in attack. The inclusion of Traore suggests that they are planning for counter-attacks, though.
There was a poor spell where Nuno's side only managed one point from six games - including back-to-back defeats to Cardiff and Huddersfield - but an unexpected victory over Chelsea has really changed things round for them and they now welcome Liverpool on a three-match winning streak.
That particular streak ended with a goalless draw against Liverpool and Molineux and, while a repeat tonight would not be a bad result against the league leaders, Wolves are not the type of team that will settle for a draw too often.
Even then Wolves almost recovered from 3-0 down before eventually losing 3-2, and aside from that they have beaten Chelsea and drawn against both Manchester clubs and Arsenal. Nuno's side seem to raise their game when they take on the league's biggest clubs, and he will be hoping that is the case again tonight.
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Such was Wolves' level of performance last season and spending in the summer than relegation was never really considered for them before the campaign began, and so it has proved with Nuno's men sitting closer to the top four than they are to the bottom three.
Fast forward to today and only four newly-promoted teams have ever made better starts to a Premier League season than this current Wolves crop - Watford in 2015-16, Birmingham in 2009-10, Hull in 2008-09 and Reading in 2006-07.
That made it back-to-back home wins for Wolves after a run of three defeats in a row too, and they could now win three matches on the bounce at Molineux for the first time in more than a year - and the first time in more than 38 years in the top flight.
On that occasion their victory also ended the longest unbeaten streak in the league at that time - against Manchester United in 2010-11 - so Liverpool will be hoping that that is not a bad omen for them this evening.
The signing in particular over the last 12 months - particularly Van Dijk and Alisson - have given Liverpool exactly what they need to close what was a huge gap between themselves and Man City, to the point where they come into match number 18 of their season sitting top of the Premier League table.
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The Reds are also unbeaten in 18 league games - a club record in the Premier League, having last enjoyed a longer spell in 1990 when they went 23 matches without defeat.
The last four teams to be top at Christmas - and eight of the last nine - have gone on to lift the trophy. However, the catch is that Liverpool are the only exception in that run, having failed to do so in 2013-14.
Manchester City will be expected to win at home to Crystal Palace tomorrow, so any dropped points tonight could mean that they are knocked off top spot for Christmas Day.
Of course, that will not mean much if they fail to go on and win silverware - as 18 different Liverpool teams have done so before then in the top flight - but so far it has been very encouraging for the fans, who have had to wait so long for a 19th title.
Their attack - which was so deadly last term - seems to be gathering steam again now too, and only Man City have scored more than Liverpool this season. Indeed, the Reds have netted three or more goals in four of their last five Premier League games, having done so just three times in their opening 12.
A nail-biting 1-0 win over Napoli last Tuesday night ensured their progress into the last 16 of the Champions League - at the Italians' expense - before they put in a dominant display to beat Manchester United at Anfield on Sunday - a result which saw Jose Mourinho sacked two days later.
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This is the Reds' final away game of 2018, though, and their next one could be pivotal as they face Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium to kick off 2019. Newcastle United and Arsenal await at Anfield before that.
It is hard to back against Liverpool in their current form, but this will be one of their tougher away games. Wolves have a good record against the top clubs and have the quality to spring a surprise, but we're still going for an away win - if only a narrow one.
SPORTS MOLE SAYS: Wolves 1-2 Liverpool
Indeed, both of those two wins have come at Anfield, and you have to go back to August 1981 for Wolves' last win over Liverpool at Molineux - a 1-0 triumph in a game which saw Liverpool - then reigning European champions - hand debuts to future club legends Bruce Grobbelaar and Mark Lawrenson.
The most recent league clash between the two sides came in January 2012, when goals from Andy Carroll, Craig Bellamy and Dirk Kuyt saw Liverpool cruise to a 3-0 win here at Molineux.
This is a very different Wolves proposition to the one which Liverpool have come up against within the past few decades, though, so they will not be paying too much notice to those statistics.
WOLVES STARTING XI: Patricio; Bennett, Coady, Boly; Doherty, Neves, Saiss, Jonny; Moutinho; Jimenez, Traore
LIVERPOOL STARTING XI: Alisson; Milner, Lovren, Van Dijk, Robertson; Henderson, Fabinho, Keita; Salah, Firmino, Mane
FABINHO GIFTS WOLVES CHANCE
The Liverpool man gives the ball away in his own half but Adama Traore's effort flies narrowly wide.
📺 Watch Friday Night Football live on Sky Sports PL or follow here: https://t.co/KOM8UQnOw2 pic.twitter.com/eaXWy0YtkU— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 21, 2018
Salah's initial free kick was poor, but Liverpool kept hold of the ball and Salah ran into the area. Fabinho exchanges passes with Mane down the right before pulling the ball back into the middle, and Salah just touches it home with the outside of his boot. Lovely goal.
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SALAH FLICKS LIVERPOOL AHEAD
Mo Salah starts and finishes the move as the Reds lead in the Midlands.
📺 Watch Friday Night Football live on Sky Sports PL or follow here: https://t.co/KOM8UQnOw2 pic.twitter.com/BZEoMePRQ1— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 21, 2018
Mohamed Salah scores with Liverpool's 1st shot on target. He has now scored against 20 of the 22 PL teams he has faced - only failed to score v Man Utd & Swansea
— Sky Sports Statto (@SkySportsStatto) December 21, 2018
Has 43 league goals since start of last season only Lionel Messi has more in major European leagues (48) pic.twitter.com/niSEiO1BPZ
The hosts have had plenty of sights of goal - more so than Liverpool - but the Reds have provided the one clinical moment of quality in the match so far and that is the difference between the two sides at this stage.
Salah began the move with a free kick which went wrong, but he then continued his run into the box and was there to get on the end of Fabinho's cutback. Salah still had plenty to do from that point, but he supplied a brilliant finish by flicking the ball past Patricio with the outside of his boot.
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Wolves were on top at the start of the half as their counter-attacking plans proved initially successful, with Traore firing two shots off target and Saiss drawing one of those saves from Alisson.
Jonny and Doherty both also drew saves from Alisson in that first half, with Liverpool putting in a pretty sloppy performances despite their lead.
Trent in the away end...
Trent Alexander-Arnold is among the Liverpool fans at Wolves.
📺 Watch Friday Night Football live on Sky Sports PL or follow here: https://t.co/KOM8UQnOw2 pic.twitter.com/L1tUiEMSzn— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 21, 2018
Salah picks the ball up around 30 yards from goal and quickly sends a sensational delivery into the area, where Van Dijk is there to cushion his volley past Patricio.
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Van Dijk the poacher!
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 21, 2018
Liverpool cruising now as Virgil van Dijk scores his first league goal for the Reds.
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8 - Since the start of last season, Mohamed Salah has scored and assisted in eight different Premier League games for Liverpool - more than any other player in the division. Proficient. #WOLLIV pic.twitter.com/SPUnj80JCk
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 21, 2018
Wolves had their chances in the first half, but Mohamed Salah gave them the lead before creating the second after the interval for the imperious Virgil van Dijk. Liverpool looked comfortable throughout the second half and now sit four points clear at the top of the Premier League table.
Thank you very much for joining Sports Mole for tonight's Premier League clash between Wolves and Liverpool as goals from Salah and Van Dijk earn the visitors a seventh straight Premier League win. I will leave you with our match report, and be sure to stick around for reaction too.
From me, though, it is goodbye for now.
