Match Preview
Liverpool vrs Fulham
Premier League Match Day 04 26/27 at Anfield
Saturday 12th September 2026 KO: 15:00
Referee:
Thomas Bramall (Sheffield)
|
Fulham face a Liverpool past and Liverpool present that square off on the Anfield touchline on Saturday afternoon in the Premier League.
The Cottagers suffered a terrible three-peat of defeats as they were bested 3-2 at home to Crystal Palace last time out while Andoni Iraola's charges overcame Ipswich Town 2-0 in their last top-flight affair.
Fulham had their first competitive win before Liverpool this season - swatting aside AFC Wimbledon 3-0 in the second round of the EFL Cup - but Alvaro Arbeloa's men have had sweet little to cheer as far as the Premier League is concerned.
Not only have the Cottagers lost each of their first three top-flight games of the season, they have lost in different ways, failing to outscore either Chelsea or Palace at home and being unable to breach a steadfast Sunderland defence in a 1-0 reverse.
Fulham's 3.13 xG against the Eagles suggested that the scoreline did not tell the full story, but the only statistic that currently matters to visiting supporters - some of whom booed the team and manager off at full time last weekend - is the zero-point total.
Only newly-promoted Coventry City are also still waiting for their first Premier League point of the campaign, and in both of the previous two top-flight seasons that Fulham have lost their opening four games, the Cottagers were relegated.
However, the most recent of those demotion seasons - 2020-21 - also marks the last time Fulham won a league match at Anfield, as Mario Lemina made the difference in a 1-0 March 2021 triumph. Since then, Liverpool have won four and drawn one of their five home battles with the Cottagers in all tournaments, strolling to a 2-0 victory back in April.
Keeping up their streak of scoring multiple goals in every game under Iraola, but now pairing their absorbing attacking play with a greater level of defensive discipline, Liverpool are firmly in the ascendancy domestically and continentally.
After swatting aside Ipswich courtesy of a quickfire brace from Alexander Isak, the Reds posted their latest morale-boosting Madrid success, taking down Atletico Madrid 2-1 in the Champions League by virtue of Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister's strikes.
The Argentine completing the job was something of an inevitability, after his admission that Liverpool were not prepared to offer him a new contract, but whether he can still play his way into one will be determined by his season as a whole rather than one heroic moment.
The hosts now go in search of Premier League home win number one of the season, while also bidding to end a run of three consecutive top-flight stalemates at Anfield, where they last had a longer league winless run during the COVID years.
|
-
Since completing the double over Liverpool in 2011-12, Fulham have won just two of 16 Premier League games versus the Reds (D4 L10).
-
Liverpool have only lost two of 33 previous home league games against Fulham (W23 D8), 1-0 defeats in May 2012 and March 2021.
-
Fulham are one of two sides in the Premier League this season, along with Coventry City, with a point so far in 2026-27 (L3); only in 1951-52 and 2020-21 have the Cottagers lost their opening four matches of a top-flight league campaign, with both seasons resulting in relegation
-
Only Manchester City (95) have recorded more 10+ open play passing sequences in the Premier League so far this season than Fulham (56), while the Cottagers’ direct speed (1.31 m/s) is the slowest of any side in 2026-27, which is a measure of high quickly a side moves the ball upfield.
-
This will be Fulham boss Álvaro Arbeloa’s first Premier League game against Liverpool, for whom he played 66 games in the competition. Ex-Premier League players for the Reds have lost all five of their managerial games against them in the competition: Paul Ince with Blackburn in December 2008, Mauricio Pellegrino twice with Southampton in 2017-18, and Steven Gerrard twice with Aston Villa in 2021-22.
-
Only five players have recorded more touches in the opposition’s box than Gonzalo García (20), one being Fulham teammate Josh King, who leads the league with 25.
-
Liverpool have only lost two of 33 previous home league games against Fulham (W23 D8), 1-0 defeats in May 2012 and March 2021.
-
Liverpool have drawn each of their last three Premier League games at Anfield. They last had a longer winless run at home in the league between December 2020 and March 2021 (D2 L6).
-
Liverpool’s Alexander Isak has already equalled his Premier League goals return for last season (3) following his brace against Ipswich Town; the Swede is looking to score in three successive league matches for the first time since a run of eight between December 2024 and January 2025.
-
Liverpool’s Jérémy Jacquet has won 18 of his 25 duels in the Premier League so far this season (72%), only James Tarkowski (78.6%) has a higher success rate (min. 20 duels), while the Frenchman is fifth overall for line-breaking passes into the final third (21).
-
Only Bryan Mbeumo (49) and Kai Havertz (46) have made more off-ball runs in behind in the Premier League so far this season than Gonzalo García (43).
`
`
Source Ben Knapton at SportsMole/BBCSports