Liverpool 0-1 Fulham || the-gorilla Match Report

the-gorilla (74)memberin World Of Football ⚽ • 3 years ago (edited)

The 2nd match of the day (the 1st that I got to watch) pitched a Liverpool side that have struggled of late against a resurgent Fulham. I previewed the match here and it's fair to say that few of us would have expected Liverpool to make 7 changes. Earlier in the week, @sors discussed possible friction between Salah and Mane which could well have had an influence on Klopp's team selection with Mane dropping to the bench. I've got no doubt that the Fulham dressing room will have experienced a pre-match boost in confidence once they saw Liverpool's team selection.

In what felt like a fairly frantic start, after just 2 minutes, Maja found space inside Liverpool's box hitting a 1st time effort on the volley high and wide, not doing justice to the decent Tete cross - A header would perhaps have been the better option. This early chance epitomised those which fell Fulham's way in the early stages.

Fulham continued to create chances with February Player of the Month Nominiee Andersen playing a ball behind the Liverpool defence with Lookman cutting inside before dragging his shot wide. The balls in behind Liverpool's high defensive line was a ploy that Fulham looked to repeatedly take advantage of with numerous passes finding on-rushing players but at no point did a Fulham player make the most of their opportunities shooting high and wide.

Mo Salah looked the sharpest and most dangerous when Liverpool did have possession and he couldn't be accused of lacking in confidence shooting at every opportunity (as usual) - none of his efforts troubling Areola's goal. Similarly for Fulham, they looked at their most dangerous when the ball was played wide to Ademola Lookman, however like Salah at the other end, never really troubled Alisson's goal.

The half looked destined to end 0-0 (as it tends to when I'm watching) until a silly foul by Shaqiri gave Fulham a free kick wide on the right. With only moments left before the half time whistle, the ball was whipped in by Cavaleiro and initially cleared to the edge of the box. Salah took a loose touch which bounced up and he was easily disposessed by Lemina who lashed a shot across the front of Alisson into the bottom corner. ⚽ 1-0 ⚽ to Fulham - A lead that Fulham probably deserved.

Going into the 2nd half, I was surprised to see the same Liverpool team come out without any substitutions. Klopp presumably wanting to give his players the opportunity to put things right. And they nearly redeemed themselves quickly - a great run by Neco Williams down the right saw him get just enough room to cross the ball. Diogo Jota came onto it, smashing it 1st time on the volley towards goal. Unfortunately for Jota, it was just too close to Areola who made a strong save with his right hand. The power behind the shot was ferocious and if that were my arm trying to stop it, the shot would have snapped my arm off and ended up in the back of the net.

Liverpool looked much improved in the 2nd half, passing the ball well and looking for an opening. However, the tempo didn't seem to pick up enough pace to really trouble the Fulham defence. Fulham looked to absorb what little pressure there was and then hit Liverpool on the counter-attack with the same balls in behind the Liverpool defence as they did in the 1st half, again with Ademola Lookman the focus of attacks.

Contrastly for Liverpool, there was one notable absence in the 2nd half - Mo Salah. Having looked like Liverpool's most dangerous player in the 1st half, he was utterly non-existent in the 2nd offering little to no threat whatsoever.

Just after the hour mark, Mane joined the action in an attacking change, replacing Gini Wijnaldum, a show of intent from Klopp and it was Mane who came closest with 20 minutes remaining with a looping header coming back off the post. Liverpool slowly became more threatening with Shaqiri sending a shot just over from the edge of the box but in truth, Fulham never really looked like losing their lead - their deep defence nullifying Liverpool's pace and highlighting their lack of height in attack, Mane looking the most threatening from crosses.

the-gorilla's Thoughts

I've talked about Fulham's organised defence a lot lately and it was very impressive again today. The way they've played for the last couple of months should give Fulham fans a lot of confidence that their team can avoid relegation. I don't know what to say about Liverpool and their recent performances that hasn't already been said. Liverpool have now lost 6 games in a row at Anfield, with the 2 games before that ending in a draw - at their current rate of decline, they might even fail to finish in the top half of the table (probably winning the Champions League instead)! Jurgen Klopp cut a very miserable figure in the post match interview (unsurprisingly) but what struck me most was that he looked defeated - like he didn't have any fight left and didn't have any answers to the problems Liverpool currently face.