Fulham v Liverpool

Craven Cottage - 6/8/22 - 12.30pm

FULHAM

With the World Cup crammed into the middle of the season, a strong start could prove key to any title hopes. This makes Fulham a crucial fixture. The Cottagers won the Championship in style last season, with the manager employing an attacking style.

Silva’s men have taken in four friendlies this summer; beating Nice (2-1) and Estoril (3-1), whilst losing heavily to Benfica (5-1) before drawing against Villarreal (1-1). The Cottagers have made some interesting signings this summer.

Midfielders Joao Palhinha and Andreas Pereira have been brought in. Goalkeeper Bernd Leno, Swiss wing back Kevin Mbabu, centre back Shane Duffy and winger Manor Salomon (the latter two on loan) have all arrived to the tune of £30m.

Whether these additions can bolster their squad and help them steer clear of relegation will only be known at the end of the season. Fulham have been a bit of a yo-yo club, bouncing between the Premier League and the Championship.

They’ll be hoping to establish themselves as a top flight club this time round. Craven Cottage will be bouncing tomorrow as they welcome their side back to the big time. Fulham won the last meeting between the two sides, with that defeat remaining Liverpool’s last league loss at Anfield.

LIVERPOOL

Despite winning two trophies last season it was a sombre end to the season for Liverpool having been unable to peg back Man City in the Premier League and defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League final in Paris. However positivity has quickly been restored at Anfield with Jurgen Klopp signing a new contract and the arrivals if Darwin Nunez and Fabio Carvalho.

There are a number of injury worries for Liverpool. Caomhin Kelleher is still a few weeks away from a return to fitness according to the manager, but Alisson is ‘fine’ having recovered from an abdominal issue.

Calvin Ramsay is still unavailable having missed all of pre-season with injury. Kostas Tsimikas is back on the grass after a sore knee and could join team training next week. Ibou Konaté has been ruled out for a while after sustaining a knee injury against Strasbourg.

Nat Phillips is now expected to stay at the club this window, hinting at a lengthy absence for Ibou who has suffered serious knee injuries in the past. He joins Oxlade-Chamberlain on the long term list, with the Englishman out till October with a hamstring injury.

HEAD TO HEAD - LAST 6

09 Nov 2013	Liverpool v Fulham	L	4-0	Premier League
12 Feb 2014	Fulham v Liverpool	L	2-3	Premier League
11 Nov 2018	Liverpool v Fulham	L	2-0	Premier League
17 Mar 2019	Fulham v Liverpool	L	1-2	Premier League
13 Dec 2020	Fulham v Liverpool	D	1-1	Premier League
07 Mar 2021	Liverpool v Fulham	W	0-1	Premier League

PREDICTION

The first couple of weeks can sometimes throw up a couple of surprise results in the Premier league so value may lie away from the result of this match.

Whilst most of the summer has been about Darwin Nunez arrival at Anfield we must not forget just how prolific Mo Salah has been for Liverpool and the Egyptian has a good record against Fulham and has been 1st scorer in 3 of his 5 Liverpool Fixtures against Fulham, he is top price 3/1 with Betfred

Most experts expect Liverpool to win this comfortably and although i do believe they will win the match i think it will be settled later on maybe with the extra quality from the Liverpool bench. The odds on an away win are not great so im going to the half time- full time market for my bet. Draw – Liverpool at 5/2 with Betfred.