Liverpool Host Fulham in Crucial Premier League clash at Anfield | OneFootball

Liverpool vs Fulham – Premier League Preview

Date – 14th December 2024

Venue – Anfield

Kick-off – 15.00 GMT

After a trip to Spain and a solid 0-1 midweek win over Girona in the Champions League on Tuesday, the Reds now host West London outfit Fulham, with a desire to take all three points and maintain their healthy lead at the pinnacle of the Premier League standings. The Cottager’s manager, Marco Silva, continues to impress in his role as manager and will be looking for another good performance, after taking two points off Arsenal last weekend.

Fulham Availability

Reiss Nelson, Harrison Reed, Calvin Bassey, and Joachim Andersen, are all unavailable for the visitors due to injury, whereas Tom Cairney is serving a one-game suspension. Their recent form includes a 1-1 draw at home the Mikel Arteta’s Gunners, a superb 3-1 win over Brighton at Craven Cottage, as well as a 1-1 away to Tottenham. Following fifteen games played, Fulham sit 10th in the English top tier, with an impressive 23 points taken.

A predicted lineup for the away team is listed below, in a 4-2-3-1 formation. With Calvin Bassey seemingly unavailable, it could see Sander Berge dropped into the backline, thereby allowing the combative Andreas Pereira to be recalled. The rest of the side should remain which started against Arsenal, with Rodrigo Muniz and Harry Wilson being the only other starting alternatives of note.

GK – Bernd Leno

RB – Kenny Tete

RCB – Issa Diop

LCB – Sander Berge

LB – Antonee Robinson

CM – Saša Lukić

ACM – Emile Smith Rowe

CM – Andreas Pereira

RW – Alex Iwobi

CF – Raúl Jiménez

LW – Adama Traoré

Liverpool Availability

Federico Chiesa is now in first-team training, however, he will likely feature against Southampton in next week’s EFL Cup. Conor Bradley, Ibrahima Konaté and Kostas Tsimikas are unavailable for Arne Slot for the next batch of games. Diogo Jota may well make the bench for this game, whereas Alexis Mac Allister is serving a one-game suspension.

In terms of recent form, before the 3-3 draw with Newcastle at St James Park, Liverpool convincingly defeated Manchester City 2-0 at Anfield, following a 2-0 victory against fellow Champions League contenders Real Madrid, also at Anfield. This success came after a hard-fought 3-2 win at Southampton. After fourteen games played, Liverpool sits at the top of the Premier League with an impressive total of 35 points.

Below is the team I believe the Dutch boss, Arne Slot, will start for this vital encounter. The only question appears to be whether to persevere with his Uruguayan striker, Darwin Núñez or move his other South American attacker, Luis Díaz, into the centre-forward position.

GK – Alisson Becker

RB – Trent Alexander Arnold

RCB – Joe Gomez

LCB – Virgil van Dijk (c)

LB – Andy Robertson

CM – Curtis Jones

ACM – Dominik Szoboszlai

CM – Ryan Gravenberch

RF – Mohamed Salah

CF – Darwin Núñez

LF – Cody Gakpo

How Will This Contest Play Out

Liverpool aims to maintain momentum and overcome a spirited and competitive opposition. With home advantage and a winning mentality installed within the league leaders, I suspect a hard-fought win will befall the Reds, however, they will be made to work for it. Emile Smith Rowe will undoubtedly be the key man for Fulham, as his creative approach will be vital to away success his team achieves.

Player to Watch – Dominik Szoboszlai

Steven Smith’s Score Prediction:

Liverpool 2 – 1 Fulham