Liverpool unbeaten run intact but unconvincing as Reed wondergoal denies Gakpo the glory | OneFootball

Liverpool are now nine matches unbeaten and have pulled clear of sixth after drawing at Fulham.

That’s a decent reading for a club previously in disarray under a manager seemingly on the brink.

Yet their performances, both as a team and individually, are leaving a lot to be desired.

Their nine-match unbeaten run includes eight Premier League games, half of which have been draws. Three of those draws came against newly-promoted teams Sunderland and Leeds United, with the other coming on Sunday at Craven Cottage.

Only two wins came by more than one goal, while the two one-goal victories were wobbly ones at home to Wolves and at Spurs, the latter having just two home wins in 10 Premier League matches this season.

The overriding point remains clear: Liverpool still have a long way to go. Thursday’s trip to Arsenal will reveal a lot more about them after this favourable run of fixtures, which they have navigated with moderate success.

Fulham, like West Ham in the first match of Liverpool’s ongoing unbeaten run, showed too much respect to the champions. The Reds started with Cody Gakpo up front in a desperate attempt to stop him repeatedly cutting inside and blasting the ball into the stands, while also limiting his tendency to ignore Milos Kerkez overlapping on the left.

Liverpool fans did not have the highest expectations after seeing a starting XI without Hugo Ekitike, and Gakpo’s struggles this season were summed up by a scuffed shot that trickled past the post from a very promising position.

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It was such a promising position that five minutes later former Red and Fulham’s in-form winger Harry Wilson scored from the same area at the other end. Compare the two finishes, and it makes for grim viewing for Gakpo, who has benefitted from Arne Slot’s favouritism for much of the season.

For a brief moment, that favouritism paid off as the Dutchman got on the end of a Jeremie Frimpong cross, poorly dealt with by Joachim Andersen, to thigh the ball into the net five minutes into stoppage time.

There was sheer jubilation until Harrison Reed decided to score the goal of the season and bring everything back into perspective. There will be no papering over the cracks after that result.

Fulham showed too much respect to a Liverpool side that is there for the taking, even if they have not lost any of their nine games since being smashed 4-1 by PSV Eindhoven on November 26.

They played into Liverpool’s hands, but Marco Silva and his players have far more quality and were able to get something from the game, albeit needing a one-in-a-million strike from late substitute Reed.

Many of Liverpool’s glaring issues remain. But amid the negatives, there are some positives. Florian Wirtz is one. He scored again, registering his first away goal in the Premier League.

Before the match, Jamie Carragher praised his recent displays, saying: “In these last few weeks he has been the standout player for Liverpool.” That’s a stretch. Saying he is “definitely improving” is not.

His performances have not been particularly impressive, but he is at least getting into the right areas, making the right runs and showing some of the end product expected of a £100m footballer. Even so, there is little doubt he currently looks a shade of the player Liverpool thought they were signing.

Continuing on the same trajectory will rely on Wirtz keeping his spot in Slot’s front three, not behind the striker. It’s unclear who that striker will be when Liverpool take their unbeaten run to Arsenal on Thursday, but even with a goal at Fulham, it is clear that Gakpo is not a long-term solution up front.

There have been glimpses of promise from Wirtz and Liverpool during this unbeaten run, but so much uncertainty remains. If the Reds have truly turned a corner, we’ll find out when they travel to the league leaders in four days.