Fulham welcome Liverpool to Craven Cottage as a five match Super Sunday in the Premier League hits its halfway point.
Victory will send Fulham four points clear of the relegation zone for at least a few hours, whereas Liverpool could go top with a win if Tottenham Hotspur fail to win earlier on Sunday at Crystal Palace.
Team News
Kenny Tete could return for Fulham if he passes a late fitness test following a recent calf injury which has sidelined him for nearly three months.
Terence Kongolo is still ruled out with a foot injury for the foreseeable future.
Liverpool expect to have Diogo Jota available after the Portugal international was substituted during Wednesday’s Champions League draw at Midtjylland with a knock in the 87th minute.
Konstantinos Tsimikas, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (both knee) and Alisson (fitness) are doubts, whilst James Milner (thigh), Xherdan Shaqiri (hamstring), Joe Gomez, Thiago Alcantara and Virgil Van Dijk (all knee) remain absent.
Stat Attack
- Fulham are winless in their last six meetings against Liverpool (L6).
- Liverpool have lost just one of their last five trips to Craven Cottage (W4, L1), whilst failing to keep clean sheets in all of their last five visits.
- Fulham have never been awarded a penalty against Liverpool in 28 previous Premier League meetings.
- Jurgen Klopp’s Reds have scored 26 goals in their opening 11 league games this season, which is one more goal than they managed with 25 goals after 11 matches last season.
- No Fulham player has lost more aerial battles in their opening 11 matches this season than Aleksandr Mitrovic, who has lost 46 battles in 10 appearances.
Prediction
Fulham were always going to lose at Manchester City last weekend but one positive is that they put in a decent performance despite having little chances, although their high tempo defending was poor and could of easily seen them concede more goals than the two they did thanks to excellent goalkeeping from Alphonse Areola.
Liverpool meanwhile were clinical against Wolves before finding themselves held in Midtjylland in midweek but I am expecting to see a more typical attacking performance akin to their performance against Leicester a few weeks ago, given the contrast in Fulham’s quality to recent opposition.
On that note, this is definitely Liverpool’s match to lose but if Fulham opt for a lower tempo defensive display and Areola puts in another brilliant effort then this could be tighter than we might think.
Prediction: Fulham 0-2 Liverpool
Result: Fulham 1-1 Liverpool