Klopp speaks!
Here’s Andy Hunter’s report from Anfield.
This moment almost as good as a goal for Fulham today.
"Wow, what defending that is!" 😲
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) March 7, 2021
Joachim Andersen makes a brilliant goal-saving intervention to deny Liverpool a certain equaliser right at the death! 👏
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Ewan Murray has written this on Jürgen Klopp’s probable successor as Liverpool manager.
Fulham’s Harrison Reed speaks to Sky Sports.
It’s massive, we came here with confidence. That was the message, [Scott Parker] speaks about coming here and winning, not getting a result. The first half was superb, one of our best performances this season. Second half we put our bodies on the line. I think we did want it more and that was a big factor in taking the three points today. We feel it’s been coming. We feel like we have been building.
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The comments are in.
First, Niall: “Liverpool’s fall since before Xmas has been precipitous. I’d like to think calm heads will prevail during the maelstrom that is an awful run of form. Trophies aside the last 5 years supporting the Reds have been the best fun since I was a kid in the 80’s. I want to see Klopp get another tilt at it next season. As a a great man once said, we go again.”
Next, Colum,
back for more,
actually, it’s another Colum : “Dare one even breathe the word ‘replacement’ but with Gerrard taking Rangers to League success in Scotland, Klopp is probably looking over his shoulder. Something has gone awry with Liverpool and injury is obviously partly to blame but some of the players look as though their hearts aren’t in it. Jota is one of the few bright spots today. Just hope we scrape a draw against Fulham. At Anfield. That really is saying something.”
Now, Jeremy: “So just tuned in for an exciting finish. Seems Scott Parker is dressed as one of the Liverpool Spice Boys! That 1996 FA Cup final was lost by Liverpool 0-1 too! Is it an omen in the threads?”
Then Simon: “This is the greatest collapse in PL history from a team that was unbeatable and, remember, one of the few teams who had the advantage of home fans to set them on their way earlier this season. Their inevitable triumph in the UCL will only serve as a fitting end to this crazy Covid season.”
The last word, some (sort of) positivity from Philippa: “Instead of sobbing into my glass, I’m trying to find a new and more positive perspective: this team is so kindly that, after the relentless winning of the last few seasons, they’ve decided to give others the chance to break records, succeed where they don’t expect to and generally have a lovely time at Anfield. For a while anyway...”
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The table is terrible reading for Liverpool fans, and represents real hope for Fulham.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Man City | 27 | 39 | 65 |
| 2 | Leicester | 28 | 16 | 53 |
| 3 | Man Utd | 27 | 21 | 51 |
| 4 | Chelsea | 27 | 17 | 47 |
| 5 | Everton | 26 | 6 | 46 |
| 6 | West Ham | 26 | 9 | 45 |
| 7 | Liverpool | 28 | 11 | 43 |
| 8 | Tottenham Hotspur | 26 | 15 | 42 |
| 9 | Aston Villa | 26 | 11 | 40 |
| 10 | Arsenal | 27 | 7 | 38 |
| 11 | Leeds | 26 | -1 | 35 |
| 12 | Wolverhampton | 28 | -9 | 35 |
| 13 | Crystal Palace | 27 | -14 | 34 |
| 14 | Southampton | 27 | -11 | 33 |
| 15 | Burnley | 28 | -16 | 30 |
| 16 | Newcastle | 27 | -17 | 27 |
| 17 | Brighton | 27 | -8 | 26 |
| 18 | Fulham | 28 | -11 | 26 |
| 19 | West Brom | 28 | -36 | 18 |
| 20 | Sheff Utd | 28 | -29 | 14 |
Full-time: Liverpool 0-1 Fulham
Liverpool were - yet again - well off it. Fulham seized their chance, defending that Lemina goal with assurance having been the better team and deservedly ahead. Liverpool are teetering towards real disaster. Somehow, they keep getting worse. Fulham, though, are alive and kicking in the relegation battle. Watch out Newcastle and Brighton.
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90+6 min: Phillips has a dig that flies wide. Areola lies down to waste time. He takes an age over his goal kick. Mitrovic is penalised for a foul. Time being added on here that nobody knows where it came from. Alisson goes up for the final corner from Shaqiri. Areola tips it away...and that’s it. Six defeats in a row for Liverpool, a vital win for Fulham.
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90+4 min: Great defending by Anderson prevents a certain goal. The ball was headed to the feet of Mané. Heroic stuff. Alisson is up. And Lemina is coming away. Keita is booked for legging him up. Was that the denial of a goalscoring opportunity even though it was in Fulham’s half?
90+2 min: Reed robs Mané on the edge of the box. It’s like a rolling maul in there. Fulham hacking everything away they can.
90 min: Four minutes added on.
89 min: Fulham have a counterattack. RLC does the usual of beating a couple of men, before passing to a trundling Mitrovic, who chooses not to run the ball into the corner. That was too much effort. He has a shot instead. Easy for Allison. And Liverpool can go back down the other end.
87 min: Two offsides for Liverpool in quick succession betray a shapelessness, a lack of ideas. Klopp has whacked on attacking players and hoped they would do something. They are now operating at cross purposes. That’s desperation for you.
85 min: Final Fulham change: Cavaleiro off, Mitrovic on, presumably for his tireless run. On Sky, Jamie Carrragher now talking about “mentality monsters” and “mentality midgets”. It’s got to the wibble stage.
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84 min: Alisson has the freedom of Liverpool’s half to himself. Liverpool have a corner, from which Phillips’ flicked header is cleared by Areola then hacked into the air.
83 min: Fulham change: off goes the excellent Lookman, on comes Robinson.
82 min: All Liverpool, but ‘Trent’ whips in a cross that Areola does well to claim, not that anyone was up there challenging him.
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80 min: ‘Trent’ whips the ball in, Mané heads back, and there is nobody there to knock it in. The radar is off for so many Liverpool players.
79 min: Fabinho launches the ball long. Liverpool going more direct? It looks that way.
77 min: Two Liverpool changes: Neco Williams off for Trent Alexander-Arnold, James Milner off for Fabinho.
76 min: Fulham sitting back and back and back. It would be a grave disappointment if they don’t hold on here. But they are inviting real pressure.
74 min: RLC again carries the ball to try and eat up time but Liverpool press the ball out. Neco Williams is the outlet again but delays his cross. Then RLC comes away with the ball. Lookman looks to hold the ball in the corner, which seems a bit previous considering how long is left on the clock.
72 min: Real Liverpool pressure now. Neco Williams sets up Shaqiri for a shot he drags wide. Fulham now living far more dangerously.
71 min: Chaotic scenes at last in the Fulham box, as Mané heads a Keita cross off the bar and there are all types of panics in getting the next two phases of possession under control.
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70 min: Nice skill for RLC’s first touch. He’s on to bring a bit more control to midfield.
69 min: Simon McMahon: “Afternoon John. Liverpool obviously doing their best to make Celtic’s title defence look convincing. You’d have got long odds at the start of the season for both of those teams to be 20+ points adrift at the start of March.”
67 min: Fulham change: off goes Maja, on comes Ruben Loftus-Cheek (RLC).
66 min: Shaqiri’s corner causes problems and several players swing at the ball, including Mané who stages a near-replicant of his Chelsea fresh-air effort. What has happened to Mané? He was absolutely brilliant.
65 min: Fulham holding a line on the edge of their box, with Liverpool yet to produce anything beyond that Jota shot, and that was a half-chance. A well-taken half-chance and an even better save but so little is happening.
63 min: Lookman is fouled, and Fulham get a free-kick on the edge of the Liverpool box. Jota comes away with it, only for Lemina to chase him down and win the ball.
62 min: Mané is coming on, and Wijnaldum, unusually anonymous, at least compared to when Liverpool were in good form, goes off.
60 min: Liverpool, despite that improvement, have lacked crispness in their passing. Milner is the latest to make a mistake and Cavaleiro speeds away, only to find himself without allies. He eventually cuts in and shoots wide.
57 min: That’s what the plane said. Liverpool Football Club, champions of all England, reduced to sub-LinkedIn mottoes. How the mighty have fallen.
A plane flies loudly overhead. We can't see it but we can hear it. The television informs us the banner says "Unity is Strength - Let's Go Reds - YNWA". We have reached that point, folks.
— Ian Doyle (@IanDoyleSport) March 7, 2021
56 min: Neco Williams has been a decent outlet for Liverpool. He forces a corner that results in a foul on the Fulham goalie from Nat Phillips.
55 min: Fulham attack on the counter and Lookman skips past Phillips but can’t get on to his favoured right foot. The resultant corner is wasteful, a pearoller of an effort.
53 min: Liverpool have been much brighter since the break, though they are wasteful with their latest corner.
52 min: And the plane continues to buzz Anfield. That’s one industry that doesn’t appear to have been too badly affected by the pandemic.
50 min: Neco Williams forces a corner, and that’s taken short. He gets the ball back and smashes the ball into the Kop with a skewed hack. There’s a plane above, and it doesn’t seem to be congratulating Rangers on their title. Instead it holds a message for unity. Phew, nothing too controversial.
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48 min: Amazing save from Areola, as Jota smashes a dropping ball towards goal. It looked in, and the fake crowd thought it was, only for it to saved by a strong right arm.
47 min: Lemina booked for hauling back Andy Robertson.
😬@LFC have conceded the opening goal in each of their last 6 @premierleague games at Anfield - as many as in their previous 32 such games, going back to March 2019
— Sky Sports Statto (@SkySportsStatto) March 7, 2021
They have scored just 1 goal from 83 first half shots over their last 13 PL games pic.twitter.com/jSKfaLdGaS
46 min: We are back underway, with no changes made by either manager. Jürgen Klopp was pictured taking a hefty swig from his water bottle, though we can only presume it’s water.
Colum on Josh Maja’s wardrobe malfunction: “Many years ago the huge Welsh rugby player Geoff Wheel had cause to change his shorts during an international match. His colleagues gathered around him to provide a little modesty, or in the words of the great Bill McLaren “so that he doesn’t frighten anybody”.”
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Mary Waltz has her say: “As much as I enjoy pitching into the “what’s wrong with Liverpool” slag off it ignores how well Parker has his squad playing. They were clearly the better side, I think they are going to escape no matter how this fixture ends.”
Half-time: Liverpool 0-1 Fulham
Fulham get the goal they deserved, and they might have had more. Salah’s ditziness for Lemina’s goal symbolic of yet another no-show from Liverpool. There has been much talk of how fans could change Liverpool’s outlook but they would have been booed and jeered off for that display.
45+1 min: One minute added on. Liverpool have been abject and a break cannot come soon enough for them.
Goal! Liverpool 0-1 Fulham (Lemina, 45)
Well well. It had been coming. Liverpool initially clear a free-kick and Salah daydreams, only for Lemina to steal in thump an angled shot past Alisson.
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44 min: Fulham putting the pressure on again as Tete forces a corner. Scott Parker, in natty herringbone jacket, curses his team’s failure to get the ball into a more dangerous area.
42 min: Jota booked for tripping up Lemina. Free-kick to Fulham. This too would be ambitious to shoot from here. Tosin is the target for a lofted ball, and fails to make contact. Again, he had been allowed to escape.
40 min: Liverpool, it has to be said, have not been much good here. Whatever Klopp meant to happen with seven changes has probably not happened.
38 min: Tete is booked for what looks a decent challenge on Jota. It also gives a free-kick chance for Liverpool. Shaqiri takes it on, wafting it over the bar. That was from some way out. Ambitious to say the least.
37 min: Fulham’s attacking is more direct than that of Liverpool, and is causing more problems at the moment. Tempting to consider what Salah might have done with the chances presented to Maka and Lookman.
35 min: A golden Fulham chance. Lookman escapes all the way down the left, and cuts in, his delay letting Neco Williams in to pull off a block. He might perhaps have laid up Maja.
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34 min: Robertson plays an aimless ball and it’s easily intercepted. He and the absent ‘Trent’ have not had good seasons, when they used to be so good.
32 min: Josh Maja’s shorts have split, and he has to run to the sidelines to change them. In the days when crowds were in stadia that used to result in a wolf whistle from the terrace wags.
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31 min: Keita takes a shot from distance. He might have considered passing the ball to a teammate rather than going for glory.
29 min: Fulham chance: Maja almost gets a toe to it, but Alisson smashes into him and wins the ball. Good goalkeeping. It needed to be. Fulham are getting plenty of crosses in, and Liverpool are having all sorts of problems with that.
27 min: A Liverpool attack, but one that sees James Milner swamped by Fulham defenders.
25 min: Remind us: which is the away side here? That in red or white? And which are the champions of England? What a strange course of events.
23 min: More Fulham attacking. And Rhys Williams has to clear behind. Maja was lurking, as was Lookman. Scott Parker’s men really fancy this one.
21 min: Fulham still keeping calm with their passing. They eventually force another opportunity with one of those long balls, but Maja again can’t get enough on it.
19 min: Salah’s first shot. He holds the ball up, spins and then shoots. Wide but a decent effort.
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18 min: Jim, via DM, tells me that Ben Davies is injured/ill. That probably qualifies him for the role of Liverpool central defender.
16 min: Salah is playing centrally today, what with his usual bagmen being either on the bench or crocked. He is wandering where he likes while Keita is pushing on too.
14 min: Fulham look relaxed. That draw between West Brom and Newcastle was not the worst result for them, even it was among the worst games ever played. Christ, it was bad.
13 min: Liverpool attack, Milner speeds on for a return pass off Neco Williams but it doesn’t get there. Salah heads down the channels but has to turn the ball back. It’s all a bit pedestrian.
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11 min: Fulham’s turn to pass it around, and Liverpool’s pressing is not exactly rigorous. Lookman then cuts inside and shoots on goal. He misses and an offside flag goes up. The flag was up incorrectly so that’s a good chance gone begging. Liverpool seem likely to cough up some others, mind you.
9 min: Robertson and Jota link down the left as Liverpool spend a sustain period in. the Fulham final third. The visitors are sat deep, and seem happy for Liverpool to pass around.
7 min: Keita is in midfield and has plenty to prove. Of all Klopp’s signings in that 2017-19 period, he’s the one who has produced the least. And so much was expected of him too.
5 min: Liverpool look, as might be expected, a tad disjointed. But Jota, so good to have him back, almost makes something happen, only for Reed to block off an attempt to volley the ball back across goal.
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3 min: An early dart for Salah, who loses the ball and then wins it back with some typical determination then falls to the floor...then a chance for Maja. Great cross from the right and he scoops over. That was a very good chance.
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2 min: Luke Jones emails in: “Phillips and Williams have been available since the beginning of Liverpool’s injury woes. Everything Klopp has done - playing Henderson and Fabinho back there, bringing in Kabak and Davies - has been done to avoid this pairing. Oooof.”
Penny for Ben Davies’ thoughts too.
1 min: And away we go...Fulham are unbeaten for their last seven away from home.
You’ll Never Walk Alone rings out for the last time as the anthem of both the Scottish and English champions. Neither Celtic nor Liverpool will be that come August, now that Rangers are champions north of the border.
Jürgen Klopp speaks to Sky Sports.
Two changes we had to make because of injurers, the others we thought made sense. We are in an intense period. We thought this fits together, getting fresh legs in and trying to give Fulham a fight. Diogo has been missing a lot. He could play 30 minutes three days ago and now we can play him from the start. I think everyone can recognise it’s not easy. That’s how it is. It’s our situation and we deal with it.
Liverpool fielding their 16th central defensive partnership of the season. Pete Hooton of The Farm, Barry Grant, Sinbad, Alan Bleasdale and Baron Michael Howard have all been given their turn so this time it’s Nat Phillips and Rhys Williams’ turn.
So there’s this.
7 - Jürgen Klopp has made seven changes to his @LFC starting XI this afternoon, last making more between Premier League games in 2015-16. Indeed, the Reds have won their last three league games when Klopp has made at least seven changes. Hail-Mary. pic.twitter.com/w0hGzn6zcf
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 7, 2021
Andy Brassell spoke to the Fulham midfielder, on the bench today.
How did these teams get on last time out?
Scott Parker speaks to Sky Sports.
To freshen things up a bit. I feel like these are the best dynamics to try and get a result here. We are confident we can cause Liverpool some problems with it. It gives you a bit of confidence, it’s fair to sat Liverpool are in a bit of a sticky patch. We are against a team that has an array of talent, a wounded animal. I want my ream to have a confidence that we can get a result. The work we have done has been a short turnaround. The names that are coming in are big quality.
Scott E Parker fancies this one. He’s going gung-ho, with what looks like four forwards. Bobby Reid and Kenny Tete come in for Antonee Robinson and Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
Four at the back and two in midfield at Anfield! A bold Fulham lineup that screams the word "dynamic":#FFC: Areola; Tete, Andersen, Adarabioyo, Aina; De Cordova-Reid, Lemina, Reed, Lookman; Cavaleiro, Maja.
— Peter Rutzler (@peterrutzler) March 7, 2021
Jürgen Klopp has made seven (seven) changes from the team that lost 1-0 to Chelsea in midweek. Neco Williams, Rhys Williams and Nathaniel Phillips are in the back four - or is it a five - Fabinho and Trent Alexander-Arnold are benched and Ozan Kabak is out with a knock. Mané is dropped to the bench as Diogo Jota makes his first start in three months and Xherdan Shaqiri also returns to form a front three alongside Salah. Roberto Firmino has a knock too.
Now, Jürgen said he wouldn’t be putting his eggs in the Champions League basket but that selection looks as if he might be doing something on those lines.
Here are the teams
Liverpool: Alisson, N Williams, R Williams, Phillips, Robertson, Milner, Wijnaldum, Keita, Shaqiri, Salah, Jota. Subs: Adrian, Fabinho, Thiago, Mane, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jones, Tsimikas, Origi, Alexander-Arnold.
Fulham: Areola, Tete, Andersen, Tosin, Aina, Reed, Lemina, Lookman, Cavaleiro, Decordova-Reid, Maja. Subs: Fabri, Hector, Mitrovic, Ream, Loftus-Cheek, Bryan, Anguissa, Kongolo, Robinson.
The referee is Kevin Friend.
Preamble
Is there a better time for a relegation-threatened club to travel to Anfield than now? Once-proud Liverpool have been cowed by five (five) home defeats in succession, each one of them producing ever more bewilderment from Jürgen Klopp. Fulham have been playing pretty well of late, though like Brighton they suffer from having a powderpuff attack. Perhaps Liverpool’s defence might be obliging, they have been for a while. Fulham have won just once at Anfield, in May 2012, thanks to an own-goal from Mrtn Skrtl, but ought to fancy this one. No, really. Things really have got that silly.
Kick-off is at 2pm. Join me.
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