Fulham vs Liverpool Preview:
Possible starting lineups:
Fulham:
Areola; Aina, Andersen, Adarabioyo; Cordova-Reid, Anguissa, Reed, Robinson; Loftus-Cheek; Lookman, Cavaleiro
Liverpool:
Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Fabinho, Robertson; Henderson, Wijnaldum, Jones; Salah, Firmino, Mane
Fulham host the reigning champions at Craven Cottage on Sunday. The hosts have seven points after 11 rounds and they are just outside the drop zone. The start of the new season was awful as they lost seven of the first nine matches in the Premier League. However, one win and one defeat on the last two fixtures isn't bad at all. Even more, the opponents were two strong sides. Fulham managed to beat Leicester City with 2:1 at King Power Stadium. Lookman scored the opener after 30 minutes, slotting past Schmeichel following Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa's driving run from inside the own half. Zambo Anguissa has completed 38 dribbles in the league this season, more than any other player after 11 match rounds. Eight minutes later Ivan Cavaleiro converted a penalty to double the lead. He was under big pressure as the Londoners had missed each of their previous three penalties in the Premier League. The victory improved the atmosphere in the squad, though they were unable to produce another miracle and lost 2:0 to Manchester City at the Etihad. But manager Scott Parker was satisfied with the performance of his players: "I really liked what we were about in the second half. There's no shame in losing to a quality side. I asked for spirit and personality and I thought we had that," he said. Parker surely feels some pressure after losing 15 of his 21 top-flight matches since taking charge of Fulham, initially as caretaker manager. It is positive he has most of his players available for this match, only Terence Kongolo remain sidelined due to injuries. In addition, this game comes too soon for defender Kenny Tete, who made his comeback from a calf strain by playing for the U-23 team on Friday.
Liverpool are not dominant like the previous season. The Reds are sharing the first place with Tottenham as both teams have 24 points, two more than Chelsea. The actual form isn't at the highest level, they have two wins, two draws and one defeat on the last five matches across all competitions. The Reds beat Ajax and Wolverhampton, lost to Atalanta and shared the points with Brighton and Ajax. But lets put the focus on away form in the Premier League. Jurgen Klopp's men are winless in their past four away games. Overall, they have just one victory on road this season, against Chelsea in September. It is question how that match would finish if the Blues weren't reduced to 10-men in the first half. Counting only the away matches, Liverpool are ranked as 16th with 7 points. Only four teams are worse than Liverpool, while it is quite unexpected that teams like Brighton, Crystal Palace or newcomers Leeds United have collected more points as guests. However, the injury situation is definitely bad as some key players remained sidelined. The already mentioned duo Van Dijk and Gomez are long term injury victims. First choice goalkeeper Alisson Becker, who missed the last three games through injury, has recover and should replace the young Caoimhin Kelleher who performed excellent in his absence. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has also recover, but it is likely to start from the bench. Diogo Jota and Kostas Tsimikas need to be assessed after picked up knocks against Midtjylland on Wednesday. Thiago Alcantara, James Milner and Xherdan Shaqiri are definitely out injured. Some players that weren't in the starting eleven against the Danes on Wednesday, are expected to begin the match at Craven Cottage - Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino, Jordan Henderson, Georginio Wijnaldum, Joel Matip and Andrew Robertson. Mohamed Salah could be rested after playing the full 90 minutes four days earlier in the Champions League. Even more as London is not a favorable city for the Egyptian. He has scored just once on his last 12 trips to London.
Fulham vs Liverpool Prediction:
Fulham have conceded more goals than any other Premier League side this season (21). At the same time they failed to keep clean sheet on 10 of the 11 played matches in the Premier League. Having on mind Liverpool's attacking power, I expect the Cottagers to concede again. So the question is about Fulham scoring in this match. I think they will. Liverpool are without Van Dijk and Joe Gomez and they have conceded on the last four away matches in the competition.
Fulham vs Liverpool Pick: Both teams to score - Yes @ 1.75 with
Pinnacle