Why Liverpool Couldn’t Secure Victory Against Fulham After Taking the Early Advantage at Craven Cottage

With Liverpool comfortably on track to claim the Premier League title this season, it comes as little surprise that they’ve eased off the gas with only a few matches remaining. However, Arne Slot may not share that perspective.

On Sunday, the Reds faced Fulham, suffering only their second league defeat of the season, following Nottingham Forest’s unexpected victory at Anfield in September. The nature of this latest defeat has surely sparked some serious considerations for the Dutch manager.

Fulham had previously won just one of their last 13 encounters in the Premier League against Liverpool (D3 L9), a solitary goal victory at Anfield back in March 2021, while the Reds held an unbeaten streak of six away league matches against Fulham (W4 D2) since their last defeat in December 2011, which occurred under the helm of Kenny Dalglish.

Seeking to secure back-to-back home victories in the Premier League for the first time since March 2024, the Cottagers had recently triumphed 2-0 against Spurs at Craven Cottage.

Marco Silva would have been mindful of Fulham’s poor record, having earned only one point from their last 11 Premier League matches against teams that started the day at the top of the table (D1 L10), the exception being their earlier 2-2 draw with Liverpool in this season’s reverse fixture.

Liverpool faltered before the half-time break at Fulham

Since their 2-0 loss to Everton in April last year, Liverpool had gone on to remain unbeaten in 17 subsequent Premier League away matches (W10 D7), and they had enjoyed victories in each of their previous three London visits, overcoming Spurs, West Ham and Brentford.

However, despite initially taking the lead—having not tasted defeat in their last 48 matches when scoring first in the Premier League—the Reds crumbled before half-time.

Considering Liverpool’s impressive record of W19, D1, L0 when netting the opening goal this season, their dramatic decline would have been a significant disappointment for everyone involved.

Ryan Sessegnon’s equaliser was his third goal in the Premier League this season, a new personal best for him in a single campaign, and it set the stage for Fulham to rain pressure down on their opponents for the next quarter of an hour.

Alex Iwobi netted his eighth goal of the season, scoring for the first time since January 14th against West Ham, and also provided an assist for Rodrigo Muniz, who added his second goal in just three Premier League games against Liverpool.

The additional goal for the hosts sent the Craven Cottage crowd into raptures, marking the first time Liverpool had conceded three goals in a first half after scoring the opening goal during the Premier League era.

At that point, the outcome seemed all but sealed, as the Reds hadn’t triumphed in a league match when trailing by two or more goals at half-time since October 2008, when they managed to come back against Manchester City (3-2), losing all 22 matches since that remarkable feat.

For those at Liverpool searching for justifications, a look at Fulham’s relentless work rate and tenacity throughout the match might serve as a reality check.

Take Sasa Lukic, for instance, who showed his opponents no regard with a first-half booking, marking his 12th of the season—at least two more than any other player in the division.

Similarly, Timothy Castagne demonstrated his willingness to engage in the physical side, registering six attempted tackles—more than any other player on the pitch.

After undoubtedly receiving an earful from Arne Slot at half-time, Liverpool did manage to control 67.7% possession during the opening 15 minutes of the second half.

Luis Diaz found the back of the net for the tenth time this season, a personal record for him, and the first time he had scored since February 16th against Wolverhampton Wanderers. This briefly ignited hope for the visitors, but they could not capitalise further.

At least captain Virgil van Dijk should be able to walk away with his head held high, leading by example with the most touches on his team (95) and working tirelessly throughout the match, as demonstrated by his heat map.

Ultimately, while most Liverpool players enjoyed more touches than their Fulham counterparts, it was the Cottagers who made the most of Liverpool’s collapse despite holding only 37.9% possession throughout the match.

The Reds’ struggle was evident as they won just 39.3% of their duels, suffering from 63 turnovers in midfield, while managing only four successful dribbles, highlighting a lacklustre performance from Liverpool’s attackers.

Harvey Elliott did attempt to spark some momentum, registering three shots after stepping on for Dominik Szoboszlai in the 55th minute—more than anyone else on the team. His beautifully curled effort deserved better, crashing against the crossbar late on, epitomising Liverpool’s misfortune on the day.

Another worrying statistic from the match was that Liverpool had seven players taking three or more touches in the opposition’s penalty box.

It’s hard to believe in recent memory that Liverpool could push forward so effectively but fail to convert.

In the end, even without earning a point, they remain 11 points clear of Arsenal with seven matches to go. Unless an unprecedented collapse unfolds, this will surely be chalked up as simply a poor day at work.