Fulham vs Liverpool preview, H2H, team news, line-ups and prediction

Liverpool will look to avoid a second consecutive defeat against London opponents when they travel to Craven Cottage to face Fulham on Sunday. 

The Reds have had a tumultuous past two weeks that has seen them secede from their top spot and crash out of the Europa League.

The 2:2 draw with Manchester United was followed by a 3:0 lashing by Atalanta before Crystal Palace condemned the Reds to their first Premier League loss at home with a 1:0 victory. The loss to Palace saw Liverpool drop down the pecking order to third position, two points behind leaders, Manchester City.

Liverpool have already secured their record tenth Carabao Cup title and there remains the hope of a possible second Premier League title. With City involved in FA Cup action against Chelsea this weekend, the Reds could climb back to first position if they secure a resounding victory against the Cottagers.

In their most recent outing, a 7th minute Mohammed Salah’s penalty was not enough to stage a momentous comeback against Atalanta last Thursday and the Italian side ultimately progressed from the bout with a 3:1 aggregate score.

The elimination by Atalanta also denied Klopp of completing the feat of winning every competitive accolade since his arrival in England.

They now gear up for a clash against Fulham and will hope to end their streak of three matches at Craven Cottage without a win.

The first leg of this tie could be inscribed into Premier League’s folklore as one of the matches with three possible goal-of-the-season contenders. Liverpool were trailing in the 87th minute until a stunner from Wataru Endo levelled the scoring before Trent Alexander-Arnold’s pile-driver secured all three points for the Reds.

Fulham on the other have developed a knack for rising to the occasion against teams in the top half of the table, which is evident in their wins against Man Utd, Brighton and Hove Albion, Tottenham Hotspur and most recently against London opponents, West Ham.

The Cottagers recorded their first top-flight double over West Ham since the 1965-66 season when they clashed at the London Stadium last Saturday.

A brace from Andreas Pereira was enough to secure all three points for Marco Silva’s side to move up to 12th place in the Premier League table.

Alex Iwobi was the orchestrator of the two goals after his long ball was miscontrolled by Konstantinos Mavropanos to allow Pereira to latch the ball into the net.

The former United midfielder extended the lead for Marco Silva’s side in the 72nd minute after Iwobi’s cross glided past Nayef Aguerd to fall for Pereira who showcased composure to strike past Lucasz Fabianski.

The win over David Moyes’ side was West Ham’s fourth London Derby victory this season, the most in their history. The East London side secured victories against Arsenal, and Tottenham and completed a double over the Hammers.

They now face a stern test of continuing their impressive form against top sides when they host a Liverpool side that have scored in a record 19 consecutive away matches in the Premier League.

Fulham vs Liverpool match details

• Date: Sunday, 21 April 2024
• Location: London, England
• Venue: Craven Cottage
• Kick-off time: 16:30 GMT / 11:30 ET / 08:30 PT
• Referee: Craig Pawson
• Assistant referees Marc Perry, Wade Smith
• Fourth official: Sam Allison
• VAR: Tony Harrington
• Assistant VAR: Richard West
• Tickets: Supporters can buy Fulham vs Liverpool tickets through the official club website or via an online exchange.

Match stats and head-to-head 

• Liverpool hold the record for the longest consecutive scoring streak in away matches, scoring in 19 consecutive Premier League matches.

• The East London side have recorded only one win in their last 13 matches against Liverpool across all competitions, drawing three and losing nine in that run.

• Fulham’s nine victories at home so far this season in their best number of top-flight home victories since the 2011-12 season when they recorded ten victories at Craven Cottage.

• The Reds have a subpar record against London opponents, winning only six of their last 18 Premier League matches.

• These two sides have clashed 76 times with Liverpool holding the higher number of victories with 44 wins while Fulham have only emerged victorious on 13 occasions.

• Liverpool’s nine penalties are the most awarded by any side in the Premier League this season behind Chelsea with 12.

• The Cottagers six conceded penalties is the third-most by any side in the Premier League this season, behind Everton and West Ham.

• Despite being on a three-match winless streak at Craven Cottage, the Reds remain unbeaten in their last five away matches against Fulham in the Premier League. Their last three travels away to Fulham have ended in a draw.

• Liverpool have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last eight away games against Fulham in the Premier League.

• Fulham have only recorded one victory in their last 11 matches with Liverpool in the Premier League. Their last victory against the Reds was in 2021 at Anfield.

Team news

Armando Broja had a slight knock in the game against Newcastle United but recovered in time to earn a stoppage-time cameo in the 2:0 win against West Ham United. The Albania International is tipped to be fully fit to face Liverpool.

Aside from the slight concern about Broja, Silva has a fully fit squad at his disposal to choose from.

For Liverpool, Klopp will be boosted by the return of some key players towards the most critical part of the season.

First-choice goalkeeper, Alisson Becker is fully fit after making a return against Palace while Trent Alexander-Arnold and Diogo Jota are now fully back with the squad.

Conor Bradley, who was taken off in the defeat to Palace last weekend did not make the trip to Palermo to face Atalanta. The 20-year-old is also ruled out for the trip to East London as he continues to undergo treatment for a ligament injury.

Stefan Bajcetic is close to making a return but will not feature against Fulham while Ben Doak is stepping up his recovery from a lengthy injury.

Thiago Alcantara and Joel Matip are ruled out of this match with season-ending injuries.

Predicted starting lineup

Fulham predicted starting lineup:

Leno; Castagne, Adarabioyo, Bassey, Robinson; Palhinha, Cairney; Iwobi, Pereira, Willian; Muniz.

Liverpool predicted starting lineup:

Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konaté, Van Dijk, Tsimikas; Endo, Mac Allister, Jones; Salah, Diaz, Jota.

Prediction

After a promising streak of results that saw Liverpool sit at the cusp of the League table, the Reds became the architects of their misfortune after dropping points against United and Palace.

The elimination from the Europa League by Atalanta was also another difficult pill for the Reds who were second best in both fixtures.

Despite the losses, positives could be drawn from their astronomical number of created chances with the only problem being their inability to put the ball at the back of the net.

The return of Jota should help salvage their goalscoring woes but Fulham are no pushovers having recorded emphatic victories against Arsenal and Spurs.

We’re predicting a 2:0 win for Liverpool.