Preview: Liverpool vs Fulham - prediction, team news, lineups

Seeking to avoid a fourth straight defeat, under-pressure Liverpool boss Arne Slot prepares his team for an important Premier League clash against Fulham at Anfield on Saturday evening.

The two teams butt heads just over three months on from playing out a 2-2 draw in the reverse fixture at Craven Cottage, where Harrison Reed scored a phenomenal 97th-minute long-range equaliser for the hosts.

Match preview

It is fair to say that Liverpool are in a Slot of bother. Just two wins have been posted across their last eight matches in all competitions since the beginning of March (D1 L5), with the Merseysiders suffering defeat in each of their last three by an aggregate score of 8-1.

After being humbled 4-0 by Manchester City in the FA Cup quarter-finals last weekend, Liverpool’s struggles continued on Wednesday night. A 2-0 first-leg defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League saw the Reds record their lowest match Expected Goals (xG) under Arne Slot, who got is “massively wrong” on the night in the eyes of former defender Jamie Carragher.

Liverpool were also beaten 2-1 at Brighton in their most recent Premier League match prior to the international break. Since and including gameweek six (September 27), Slot’s reigning champions have remarkably lost more league matches (10) than they have won (nine), with 11 teams accumulating more points in the division than their 34 in that period.

Fortunately for Liverpool, a fifth-placed finish will be enough to secure Champions League football for next season and Slot’s side currently occupy fifth spot with seven games left to play; they are five points behind Aston Villa in fourth and only three points above rivals Everton in eighth.

Liverpool will welcome this weekend’s return to Anfield where they have lost just one of their last 13 games in all tournaments (W8 D4). However, the Reds are winless in their last three Premier League meetings with Fulham (D2 L1) and only once have they endured a longer winless league run against the Cottagers (four matches between 1966 and 1967).

After kick-starting 2026 with just two wins in eight Premier League matches, Fulham have since celebrated three victories across their last five games (D1 L1), including a 3-1 home success over relegation-threatened Burnley three weeks ago.

Only four teams have accumulated more top-flight points than the Cottagers in the last six gameweeks (10), while only Bournemouth and Man United (both nine) have picked up more points from losing positions this calendar year than Marco Silva’s side (eight).

Sitting ninth in the Premier League table, Fulham are still harbouring aspirations of qualifying for Europe for the first time since 2011-12, as they are just two points behind the top seven and only five points behind this weekend’s opponents Liverpool in fifth with seven games remaining.

Fulham must improve their form on the road if they wish to climb the table; Silva’s men boast the fifth-best home record in the Premier League this season (29 points), but they rank 17th in the away form table after collecting 15 points from as many games, losing eight of those (W4 D3).

The Cottagers, who have won only two of their 32 league visits to Liverpool (D8 L22), may need to produce another strong second-half showing if they wish to prevail on Saturday, as no PL team this term has scored more goals in the last 20 minutes of matches than Fulham (18, level with Liverpool). Interestingly, the Merseysiders have conceded 18 goals in that period, two more than any other club.

Liverpool Premier League form:

Liverpool form (all competitions):

Fulham Premier League form:

Fulham form (all competitions):

Team News

Liverpool quartet Alisson Becker (muscle), Wataru Endo (ankle), Conor Bradley (knee) and Giovanni Leoni (ACL) all remain sidelined as they continue to recover from injury.

Alexander Isak made his first appearance in more than three months as a substitute in midweek after recovering from a broken leg. The club-record signing is available for selection on Saturday, but he is not expected to start, so Hugo Ekitike should lead the line once again.

After watching on as an unused substitute against PSG, soon-to-be-departing Mohamed Salah will hope to earn a recall on the right side of attack. Cody Gakpo will also be pushing to start, but Florian Wirtz - who has created the second-most chances from open play in the Premier League this season (47) - may be preferred on the left.

Curtis Jones may be handed a start in centre-midfield at the expense of either Alexis Mac Allister or Ryan Gravenberch, while Jeremie Frimpong - who began as a right-winger in midweek - and Andrew Robertson could both start as full-backs, with Joe Gomez and Milos Kerkez reverting to the bench.

As for Fulham, Kevin (foot) remains in the treatment room, while defenders Calvin Bassey (back) and Kenny Tete (ankle) are both doubts and will be assessed ahead of kickoff.

Timothy Castagne and Issa Diop could be handed starts at right-back and centre-back respectively if Tete and Bassey are not fit to feature. Striker Raul Jimenez, meanwhile, is hoping to earn a recall in attack at the expense of Rodrigo Muniz.

Star man Harry Wilson is set to continue on the right flank; the former Liverpool winger has contributed to 16 goals (10 goals, 6 assists) this season, with only Clint Dempsey (23 in 2011-12), Louis Saha (18 in 2003-04), Dimitar Berbatov (18 in 2012-13) and Luis Boa Morte (17 in 2004-05) recording more goal involvements in a single season for Fulham.

Liverpool possible starting lineup:

Mamardashvili; Frimpong, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Jones; Salah, Szoboszlai, Wirtz; Ekitike

Fulham possible starting lineup:

Leno; Tete, Andersen, Bassey, Robinson; Berge, Iwobi; Wilson, King, Bobb; Jimenez

We say: Liverpool 2-2 Fulham

Goals are to be expected this weekend, as both teams have scored at least twice in each of their last three Premier League meetings; only two fixtures in Premier League history have had 2+ goals scored on four consecutive occasions (Brighton vs. Leicester City and Crystal Palace vs. Man City).

Fulham’s Anfield record is poor to say the least, but they should view this fixture against an out-of-sorts Liverpool as their best opportunity in years to claim a positive result. With the hosts reeling from three successive defeats, the visitors possess the attacking threat to exploit a fractured defence and may do enough to earn a share of the spoils.

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