Media reaction: 'Liverpool are the gift that keeps on giving'

Mohamed Salah opened the scoring at Molineux and then provided the assist for the Dutch international to ensure the Reds will be leading the pack at Christmas.

Here is what the media made of another excellent victory...

Chris Bascombe, Telegraph

For all the attacking magnificence, Van Dijk is why this Liverpool can succeed where those other recent pace-setters failed. He does not so much take his position as mark his territory. The Dutchman has planted his flag on every away ground in the country this season. Many will look to his goal, Liverpool's second, but it was the nonchalant shrug on Adama Traore early in the second half that typified his excellence, the Wolves striker's whippet pace nullified with ease. Not that you will hear premature adulation for his charges from Jürgen Klopp, who even in the face of significant wins pointedly repeats how Manchester City remain title favourites. Klopp is experienced enough in England now to recognise every game - particularly away - is a grind, no matter what the opponent. This was an exhibition of tough, uncompromising football in poor conditions, Nuno Espirito Santo’s side often demonstrating those qualities that denied City victory and overcame Chelsea here recently. The relentlessness of the Premier League was evident with every Wolves biting challenge. There were moments of discomfort for Liverpool's defence. Van Dijk, naturally, was unflustered. It feels like every game like this is another test of Liverpool's credentials. They have come through plenty now, winning at places like Selhurst Park, Vicarage Road and Turf Moor, venues where points have so often been squandered by mentally and physically weaker Liverpool teams. Rodgers' and Benitez's team had the firepower in Luis Suarez and Fernando Torres. They had the midfield dynamism of Steven Gerrard. They did not have the fortitude and technical brilliance of Van Dijk.

James Pearce, Liverpool Echo

Klopp's Liverpool are the gift that keeps on giving. Another hard-fought victory, another cherished clean sheet and another major hurdle cleared in their pursuit of the Holy Grail. The Reds will sit top of the Premier League table on Christmas Day and nights like this will serve to fuel the belief that they will still be looking down on their rivals long after the decorations have been packed away. This is a team with the perfect combination of silk and steel. There's quality in abundance but there's also a work ethic and a unity which is driving them on. A seventh successive league win was secured with ruthless efficiency. Title rivals Manchester City stumbled at Molineux, but Liverpool swept a resurgent Wolves aside. A rain-sodden assignment laced with danger was negotiated not with full throttle football but with a composed performance brimming with maturity and discipline. This is the new Liverpool that Klopp has built. No silly risks, no crazy scorelines. Now they play with real control. What was once a glaring weakness is now a remarkable strength. Their defensive resilience came to the fore once again in the Midlands. Van Dijk was absolutely immense. The most expensive defender in the world has proved over the course of 2018 that he's also the most gifted. Van Dijk wrapped up the points in the second half after Salah had broken the deadlock in style. Normal service has been resumed. The record-breaking Egyptian is once again top of the Premier League scoring charts with 11 goals to his name. What this team has achieved in the first half of the season is extraordinary. A tally of 48 points from 18 league matches, including 11 clean sheets, is unprecedented in the club's 126-year history. On three previous occasions in the Premier League era Liverpool have been top at Christmas and failed to stay there. But they didn't have a squad like this.

Simon Hughes, Independent

To understand the evolution of Liverpool under Klopp is to understand space and new freedoms. This team's capacity to overwhelm was visualised here by Fabinho suddenly becoming an attacking midfielder even though Jordan Henderson was in an advanced position as well. It had been Fabinho rather than Henderson acting as the defensive shield until that point and Henderson had been Liverpool's outstanding player as the captain, driving his team forward with a display that fused tenacious tackling with an assertive passing. Suddenly, though, Fabinho was ahead of Henderson and ahead of Ruben Neves. Suddenly, he was sending a cross towards Salah. Suddenly, the ball was past Rui Patricio. Suddenly, Liverpool led. Suddenly - despite playing well - Wolves were in that place no team wants to be against Liverpool, chasing an opponent only Arsenal have been able to catch this season after falling behind. This is a good Wolves side who pushed Liverpool as far as they could but the comfort with which Liverpool eased to victory on a filthy winter night at a stadium where City failed to win at earlier in the season outlines why Klopp's side are serious title contenders. For Liverpool, Molineux is one of those grounds that holds an emotional significance. It was the venue where, in 1976, Bob Paisley clinched the first of his six titles in the most dramatic of circumstances, having been a goal behind on the final match of the season, ten days after their nearest challengers Queens Park Rangers concluded their own campaign. It was a night where Phil Thompson smuggled supporters into the stadium through the back door of the stadium before smuggling them back to celebrate fully clothed in the enormous bath tanks as they drank Champagne. It is more than likely that there will be no communion and no Champagne this time. Just the cold satisfaction of another clean sheet and another three points that inches them closer to the place where they were all of those years ago.

Neil Jones, Goal.com

How fitting that it should be the game's two outstanding players who decided it. Liverpool, in case you haven't noticed, are developing into some team, and in Salah and Van Dijk they have two of the world's finest. Salah's goalscoring run shows little sign of slowing. Here, he notched his 14th goal of the season, a clinical, almost nonchalant finish with the outside of his left foot from a Fabinho assist - that's two in two games for the Brazilian, incidentally. He's now the Premier League's outright leading scorer with 11; he's in no mood to give his Golden Boot back just yet, it seems. For good measure, the Egyptian set up Liverpool's second goal too, his perfectly-judged cross diverted home by Van Dijk for his first league strike for the club, midway through the second half. That capped a flawless performance from the Dutchman, who surely has no equals right now in terms of centre-backs. You get what you pay for in football; and a year ago Liverpool paid top dollar for a very special defender. “Watch him defend, and we watch him score,” sang the travelling Kop, who enjoyed themselves despite the weather and the prospect of the M6 on a Friday night. They know a player when they see one. Van Dijk is the real deal. Liverpool have made some good signings in recent years, but few have had such a transformative effect. Seven goals conceded in 18 games this season tells its own story; they equalled the Premier League record tonight. Watch them defend and watch them score. There are times when it almost looks too easy for the 27-year-old. Ball into the box to defend? No problem. Switch of play to be executed? Easy. Foot-race with Adama Traore, surely the quickest player in the league? Count me in. This was a display of the highest quality, from a player who has been turning them in since he walked through the door at Anfield. With Van Dijk in this kind of form, and with Salah running riot at the other end, who fancies stopping Liverpool right now? They weren't impeccable here, but such is the standard their players are setting for themselves, it no longer matters. Second gear is enough at the moment.

This story has been reproduced from the media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club.