By the time Liverpool vs. Fulham comes around, both teams will have gotten to a point in their season where only a significant slip-up will see them finish in a worse position than they would be at the time of the match.
The clash at Anfield is one of the matchday 14 fixtures of the 2023/24 Premier League season. The Reds of Merseyside have never struggled against the Cottagers, the “Original London Club” as they like to be called. There will be no match-going fans at the stadium expecting Jürgen Klopp’s team to lose. Moreso, when they are led by one of the best foreign players in the league’s history: Mohamed Salah, the Chelsea reject.
Liverpool’s run of games leading up to the Fulham tie is no cakewalk. They will host Austrian Bundesliga side LASK in the UEFA Europa League before welcoming the 2021/22 EFL Championship winners. Before LASK in the Europa League, they played in the match now known as the modern English Classic – Manchester City vs Liverpool.
Having to deal with these games before Fulham will give Klopp some respite. But football is a hilarious sport.
Marco Silva, the manager of Fulham, has only one goal in mind: Keeping the Cottagers up for another season. Goals like these drive managers to do anything and everything to get the necessary points needed for the goal to be achieved. That being said, match-going fans can expect Fulham to make life difficult for Liverpool such that, even if the Reds win, there will be a great sense that Fulham deserved something.
As both managers prepare for a scintillating tactical battle, here is information on the matchday tickets, team news from both clubs, and our prediction of the match's outcome.
Match Tickets
The first batch of Liverpool vs Fulham tickets are sold on the Liverpool website for members. However, the club will sell a second batch of member tickets in November. Members (registered Liverpool fans) will have to sign up to a waiting list to get information on the next batch of ticket sales.
Fulham tickets to the game have yet to start selling. Tickets can be gotten from trusted ticket reselling platforms like Seatsnet.com at fair prices.
Fans unable to purchase game tickets can tune in to any official streaming service to catch the games. Sky Sports streaming (via the Sky Sports app), TNT Sports (via the Discovery+ app), or CBS Sports Golazo (via the Paramount+ app) are some of the platforms that will air the match. A subscription to these apps and channels is needed to access the game.
The game will be played on 3 December 2023 at Anfield. Kickoff time is 3 PM UTC.
Team news
The biggest news for the Reds is that Cody Gakpo is fit enough for 90-minute action. However, he may need to get a start against Fulham as Liverpool have another game two days later thanks to a very cramped fixture schedule. As a result, the Dutchman is more likely to get a run as a substitute. Young midfielder Stefan Bajcetic is also fit for 90 minutes, which gives Klopp another option to solve his holding midfielder problem.
Despite going all the way to sign Wataru Endo from Stuttgart, the Japan international still needs to win the German manager's complete trust. They will continue to miss Andy Robertson, who will be out until February 2024 at the earliest.
Fulham's defense is about to receive a boost with the return of Tosin Adarabioyo to the squad. After a long-term injury, the centreback is back in training with the Cottagers. He will take some time to re-acclimatize Marco Silva's setup. Still, with French defender Issa Diop out of commission, he could walk straight back into the starting lineup, being held down by Tim Ream and Calvin Bassey. Kenny Tete and Adama Traoré are also out of commission with uncertain return dates.
Lineups
Fans at the Liverpool vs Fulham game will see Jürgen Klopp put out one of the simplest line-ups he must come up with in the 2023/24 Premier League season. Ibrahima Konaté will be paired with Virgil Van Dijk, and Kostas Tsimikas will continue as Robertson’s deputy in the left-back role. Ryan Gravenberch and Wataru Endo will also get to start the game thanks to the demanding fixture schedule every Premier League team faces in December. Cody Gakpo being fit for 90 minutes of action means he could start, giving Darwin Nuñez and Diogo Jota a rest. However, because he is just getting back to full fitness, he will likely come off the bench for the Uruguayan striker, who is morphing into the striker that Klopp wants.
Liverpool: Alisson; Trent Alexander-Arnold, Konaté, Van Dijk, Tsimikas; Szoboszlai, Endo, Gravenberch; Diaz, Nuñez, Salah.
Fulham, on the other hand, will be out with their best XI. Palhinha will be their most relied-on player, while the veteran Ream will marshall the defense. The versatile Bobby Decordova-Reid could be made to play in defense so that Fulham can have more attacking threats down the left. This could mean one of Harry Wilson or Timothy Castagne will be sacrificed in this set-up. A similar line-up to what he employed against Fulham will be deployed against Liverpool. Palhinha will likely be paired with Saša Lukić again as the deep-lying midfielder who breaks and sets up plays.
Fulham: Leno; Robinson, Ream, Bassey, Decordova-Reid; Palhinha, Lukić; Willian, Pereira, Wilson; Jimenez.
Prediction
The outcome of Liverpool vs Fulham on matchday 14 of the 2023/24 Premier League season is transparent to the blind and loud to the deaf. Fulham fans can only pray for a miracle, while Liverpool fans will discuss who gets on the scoresheet for their side. Salah will be the leading name among the fans as the Egypt international is enjoying one of his most prolific seasons since he landed at Anfield in 2017/2018.
One player that Liverpool's coaches - and their scouts - will definitely be keeping an eye on is João Palhinha. Bayern Munich almost snapped up the Portuguese midfielder in the summer and has decided to give them - and other bigger teams - a reason to come for him next season. The midfield battle between him, Alexis Mac Allister, and Dominik Szoboszlai will be interesting to watch. Still, this is Liverpool's game to lose.
Liverpool 3 - 1 Fulham.
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.