Liverpool vs Fulham Preview, Team News, Likely Line-ups & Predictions

Liverpool will be looking to bounce back from last weeks 3-1 home defeat to Aston Villa as they entertain Fulham at Anfield on Saturday evening.

The Reds were on a decent run in the league before last weekends shock loss to struggling Villa, so Brendan Rodgers will be looking to get back to winning ways as the Cottagers come to town. The loss has left Liverpool in 12th position in the league, just one place and two points above Fulham, but three points this weekend could see the Merseysiders up to eight if other results go their way.

The visitors head into the game off the back of last weeks disappointing loss to QPR as they became the first side to lose to the Loftus Road club this season. Martin Jol’s men are on a poor run having won just one of their last nine games, so they will be looking to put some distance between themselves and the relegation zone this weekend.

Team News

Rodgers is able to welcome back Jose Enrique after he returned to training after being forced off against West Ham with a hamstring injury two weeks ago. The Spaniard is likely to be deployed in an advanced position on the left after impressing in that role before picking up his injury.

Midfielder Nuri Sahin is also available after recovering from a broken nose while Brazilian Lucas Leiva may be rested after playing three league games in succession after returning from a long-term thigh injury.

Fulham midfielder Steve Sidwell is suspended for the game after picking up his fifth booking of the season. Right back Sascha Riether is available again after recovering from a knee knock but Mahamadou Diarra and Bryan Ruiz are still on the sidelines.

Goalkeeper Neil Etheridge has a knee problem so David Stockdale has been recalled from his loan spell at Hull to act as back-up for Mark Schwarzer.

Likely Line-ups

Recommended bets and score predictions

History tells us these games have been tight affairs in recent years, with three of the last four matches ending 1-0, and Fulham surprisingly coming out on top on the last two occasions including a shock 1-0 win at Anfield last May.

Our friends at Betegy have crunched the data and the numbers support the fact these are close encounters, showing there is a 39% chance of a Liverpool win on Saturday, slightly higher than the 34% chance of a draw with another Fulham away win at 27%:

Liverpool are currently 8/15 on to win this weekend but if you like to bet on exact scorelines, Betegy predict there is a 33% chance of Liverpool scoring two goals on Saturday, while there is a 36% chance Fulham will score 1. The calculations therefore predict there is a 33% chance that the scoreline will be Liverpool 2-1 Fulham, which you can back at odds of 7/1.

Why not head over to Betegy and see what all the fuss is about? It’s free to join and you’ll receive free and accurate predictions for games throughout Europe every week. They have an excellent success rate so far so why not give it a try?

What would your line up be and what’s your score prediction for the game? Get involved in the comments section below.