Match Preview
Liverpool v Fulham
Premier League Match Day 14 23/24 at Anfield
Sunday 3rd December 2023 KO: 14:00
Referee:
Stuart Attwell (Warwickshire)
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Hoping to extend their perfect home record in the 2023-24 season, Liverpool welcome Fulham to their Anfield fortress for Sunday's Premier League encounter.
Marco Silva's men controversially ran out 3-2 winners versus Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday night while the Reds thumped LASK Linz 4-0 on Thursday to qualify for the last 16 of the Europa League,.
The Cottagers were thanking their lucky stars for VAR during Monday's frenetic contest with Wolverhampton Wanderers, who in turn were left to bemoan yet another batch of contentious decisions to go against them in a five-goal spectacular, where no fewer than three spot kicks were awarded in the second 45.
After Alex Iwobi and Matheus Cunha had cancelled each other's strikes out, Fulham winger Willian netted twice from 12 yards - either side of a Hwang Hee-chan response from the spot - to bring an end to Fulham's four-game winless run in the division, although Wolves boss Gary O'Neil reeled off a list of debatable calls that the officials admitted wrongly went against his side on the evening.
While Wolves may have received a hollow apology from the PGMOL, Fulham received a priceless three points in their bid to clamber away from danger, as the Cottagers languish in 14th in the table but with a comfortable 10-point cushion over Sheffield United in 18th place.
The feel-good factor in the Fulham camp may be short-lived, though, as they venture to Anfield having now conceded in each of their last nine matches in all tournaments, and not one of the Cottagers' last six Premier League away games has seen Silva's men come up trumps.
Fulham have also managed a paltry four goals from 16 Premier League games against Liverpool at Anfield - the worst ratio for any team to play at least 10 away games against a single opponent - but only a Salah spot kick could separate the two clubs in May's top-flight fixture.
Austrian powerhouses LASK Linz became the 10th visiting team to test their mettle on the Anfield turf this season during Thursday's Group E clash in the Europa League, and Thomas Sageder's side quickly became the 10th club to depart empty-handed, as Liverpool cruised into the last 16 with a game to spare.
The Reds passed up the opportunity to qualify three weeks ago in a dampening 3-2 loss versus Toulouse, but with the French side only taking a point off of Union SG, Liverpool assured themselves of top spot courtesy of a Cody Gakpo brace, Luis Diaz header and Mohamed Salah's 199th Reds goal.
With nothing but pride on the line in their final group game versus Union SG later on this month, Klopp unsurprisingly hailed the importance of wrapping up progression early as Liverpool prepare for an unforgiving winter schedule, starting with the first of eight fixtures pencilled in for December this weekend.
Last weekend's top-of-the-table showdown versus Manchester City did not exactly live up to the pre-game hype, but a fine Trent Alexander-Arnold strike rescued a point for the Reds in a 1-1 draw versus the treble winners, even if the referee's whistle did have to come to their rescue when Ruben Dias tapped in after Manuel Akanji felled Alisson Becker.
Having missed the chance to usurp the reigning champions into first place, Liverpool have now been bumped down to third position by new leaders Arsenal - who hold a two-point lead over Klopp's charges - but the Reds play host to Fulham having won all 10 of their home fixtures so far this term by a two-goal margin or more.
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Fulham's only two wins in 36 away matches against Liverpool in all competitions have both been 1-0 victories in the Premier League in May 2012 and March 2021.
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The Reds have lost just one of their last 10 league games against Fulham.
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The Cottagers have scored just four goals in 16 Premier League away games against Liverpool, and never more than once in a match. It's the lowest goals-per-game ratio of any team to play more than 10 away games against an opponent in the competition.
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Fulham are without a win in all seven of their league games this season against teams that begin this weekend in the top half of the table.
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The Cottagers are without a victory in all six of their away league fixtures since beating Everton at Goodison Park on the opening weekend of the season.
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Having managed only one win in their first 55 away league matches at either Liverpool or Everton, they have won on four of the past five attempts.
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Eight of Fulham's last nine top-flight goals have come in the second half.
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Liverpool have won all six of their home league fixtures this season by an aggregate score of 17-2.
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Since the Reds lost 1-0 to Fulham in March 2021, which was their sixth successive league defeat on home soil, they have been beaten in only one of their last 48 top-flight matches at Anfield.
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They are three short of becoming the first club to score 5,000 league goals at home in the top-four tiers of English football.
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The Reds have won 12 points from losing positions this season, the most of any top-flight side.
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They have conceded just three second-half goals in league matches this season.
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Mohamed Salah is one short of becoming the fifth player to score 200 goals for the club, emulating Ian Rush (346), Roger Hunt (285), Gordon Hodgson (241) and Billy Liddell (228).
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He can become only the second player to score in a club's first seven home matches of a Premier League season. Alan Shearer did so in Blackburn Rovers' first 13 home games in 1995-96.
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Source Ben Knapton at SportsMole