The Details
Venue – Anfield, Liverpool
Referee – Paul Tierney
Date & Time – Sunday, November 11th @ 12:00
Current Odds – Liverpool 1/10, Draw 8/1, Fulham 22/1
Form
Liverpool Form
Liverpool slumped to a dismal 2-0 defeat in Belgrade on Tuesday night. The common theme among fans, myself included, is that defeat had been coming. The Redmen have looked to be just about stumbling over the line in recent weeks, suggesting that the extremely difficult opening couple of months’ fixtures has taken its toll on their legs.
Sometimes, it can be hard to differentiate between sluggishness and a lack of confidence. I’m not sure what the problem was on Tuesday in Serbia but there needs to be some sort of determined reply from the team against Fulham.
Convince us that there isn’t an issue. Make us dream, again.
Fulham Form
Fulham coach, Slavisa Jokanovic, is now the bookies’ favourite to be the next Premier League manager lose his job. The Cottagers are rooted to the foot of the Premier League with just one win and a total of five points from their opening 11 games this season.
As you can see from the below table, Fulham are on a losing run and a defeat at Anfield on Sunday would be their seventh in a row.
Team News
Liverpool Team News
Klopp doesn’t have too many current injury worries besides Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s long-term absence. Nathaniel Clyne and Dejan Lovren are both reportedly ill at the moment but should be fit and ready by Sunday.
Jordan Henderson is almost fully recovered from his hamstring strain so, along with Naby Keita, will also be back in time for the Fulham game.
Fulham Team News
Fulham are missing Joe Bryan who is out for the foreseeable future with a hamstring injury. Kevin McDonald is also carrying a slight knock but should be available for selection at Anfield.
Jokanovic has been widely criticised for not having a more Premier League-ready style of play for the newly-promoted side. Fulham seem to still be trying to attack teams like they did last season in the Championship. Arsenal tore them apart at Craven Cottage when Fulham just allowed them to much space to play around in. The same could happen at Anfield this weekend, no matter how poor Liverpool have been playing lately.
Predicted XIs
Liverpool XI (4-2-3-1) – Alisson; Gomez, Lovren, Van Dijk(c), Robertson; Fabinho, Wijnaldum, Shaqiri; Salah, Firmino, Mané
Fulham XI (4-3-3) – Rico; Fosu-Mensah, Odoi, Le Marchand, Sessegnon; Anguissa, Cairney(c), Seri; Vietto, Mitrovic, Schurrle
When they last met
The last meeting between the sides was Liverpool’s 3-2 win at Craven Cottage during the 2013/14 season. Famous for Stevie Gerrard’s awesome assist for Daniel Sturridge plus the late Gerrard penalty which won the game in extra time.
The Anfield fixture that season was a 4-0 win for The Reds with Luis Suarez bagging two of the goals.
Prediction
Liverpool 4 – 0 Fulham
Yes, Tuesday night was horrible. It was one of the worst performances we’ve seen from Klopp’s Liverpool since his first season at the club. However, I expect Liverpool to bounce back with a good, convincing win. For some reason, I’m feeling that Xherdan Shaqiri could be the key to a rampant win on Sunday.
** Please note – “xGA” in the Form Stats tables symbolises “expected goals against” **
**All xG stats courtesy of Understat.com and FiveThirtyEight.com
