Liverpool vs Fulham: Mohamed Salah and Xherdan Shaqiri secure comfortable win for hosts
A marginal offside decision piled further pressure on Fulham manager Slavisa Jokanovic as Liverpool's mood was lifted by a 2-0 win at Anfield.
Aleksandar Mitrovic thought he had given the visitors a crucial breakthrough just before half-time only to be ruled out by the tightest of calls from assistant referee Adrian Holmes.
To add insult to injury, Liverpool scored 12 seconds later through Mohamed Salah's 34th goal in his last 36 home appearances with Xherdan Shaqiri justifying his return to the starting line-up with their second just after the break.
In his programme notes Reds boss Jurgen Klopp, sensing the deflation which accompanied their midweek Champions League defeat to Red Star Belgrade, called for a performance which was "joyful and spirited".
It was not quite that, but victory transformed a run of three wins in nine matches into four in six as they equalled their highest Premier League points tally (30) after 12 games, while also conceding their lowest number (five) at the same stage.
Despite these statistics they will still require rivals to take points off defending champions Manchester City, whom they briefly supplanted at the top of the table just a couple of hours before their derby encounter at the Etihad.
Today marks the 100th anniversary of the end of World War One. A conflict in which millions lost their lives, amidst all the excitement of today's Premier League matches, let us not forget the importance of what Armistice Day means.
Jurgen Klopp makes four changes to the Liverpool side who were defeated by Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League earlier in the week.
Milner and Sturridge are on the bench while Lallana and Matip are left out of the squad.
Roberto Firmino regains his starting place at centre forward while Fabinho and Shaqiri come into midfield. Gomez also resumes his place at centre-back.
Meanwhile Fulham make three changes to the side that lost to Huddersfield on Monday.
Christie, Mawson and Chambers come into the side as Fosu-Mensah, Seri and Vietto drop to the bench.
It's a tale of two halves for the match at Anfield. A win for Liverpool would see them go top of the Premier League, although both Manchester City and Chelsea play later on today.
As for Fulham they come into the game secure at the bottom of the table but a surprise three points would raise them up to 18th. It's improbable but we've seen crazier things happen in this game.
Fulham head coach Slavisa Jokanovic has been speaking about his tam before the game, here's what he had to say:
"In the last game we chose a really ugly way to lose. You must fight until the last moment, you must give extra effort. We didn't show the effort and we must now wake up.
"My mentality is always the same. I want to find brave people around me. We must move out of our comfort zone, push harder and be more competitive.
"After a tough two-and-a-half years in the Championship, we cannot give up now. We must show ambition and pride."
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has his eyes on the Premier League title:
"The season so far-wise, points-wise in the Premier League, has been really successful.
"But it doesn't really feel like that because there are two reasons in comparison with last year: free-flowing football in a few games and Man City and maybe Chelsea and a few others play a very good season as well.
"It feels a bit like this season can only be a success if we become champions."
Fulham win a corner and it's delivered by Schurrle. It doesn't beat the first man and Liverpool have the ball back. If Fulham are going to get something out of this game they'll need to do better on the set pieces.
Good pressure from Fulham to drive Liverpool back towards their own half but Liverpool keep coming. Shaqiri gives the ball to Salah who combines with Firmino in the box with a one-two to get into space. Salah tries to feed the ball past Rico but the goalkeeper gets a hand to the ball and keeps it out.
Fulham are content with clearing their lines but that allows Liverpool to launch wave after wave at their defence. How long they can hold out is anyone's guess but it just feels like a matter of time until Liverpool open the scoring.
Oh no! What a chance! Mitrovic helps the ball on and into the path of Sessegnon. He beats Gomez to put him one one one with Alisson. He takes his shot early but pulls it wide to the left, that was Fulham's best chance of the half and should have been a goal.
Fabinho takes control for Liverpool, he sends the ball out wide to Robertson who feeds it into the box finding Mane. No-one closes him down and Mane tries a curling ball into the top corner but it high.
