Prediction: Fulham vs Liverpool

Verdict: Both teams to score

Best odds: 11/20

Bookmaker: Unibet

Having lost ground in the Premier League title race through failing to win either of their last two matches and dropped out of the Europe League by losing on aggregate to Atalanta in the quarterfinals, Liverpool travel to London to face Fulham on Sunday as they aim to stop the rot and see off manager Jurgen Klopp at the end of the season in a dignified manner.

Meanwhile, the Cottagers’ form has been a mixed one lately, marked by some surprising triumphs and disappointing defeats.

Fulham

Marco Silva’s team go into this clash on the back of a 2-0 victory away to West Ham last week, with Andreas Pereira putting his name on the scoresheet twice, in either half. However, it could be argued that they merely took advantage of the Hammers’ Europa League involvement, playing them between their two legs of the Europa League quarterfinals against Bayer Leverkusen, the newly crowned Bundesliga champions.

At the moment, Fulham sit in 12th place in the Premier League rankings with 42 points to their name. There’s no need for them to worry about relegation, nor is there much chance of them qualifying for Europe next term, which makes their need for points on Sunday rather insignificant. However, the prospect of beating Liverpool, especially after losing very narrowly at Anfield earlier in the season and being knocked out of the Carabao Cup in the semifinals by this same opponent, will surely have Silva and his men motivated enough to put in their best effort in front of their own fans.

Team News

Furthermore, Silva has the full squad at his disposal for this game, no injury or suspension problems, an unusually good situation for any club at this stage of the season.

There’s no real need for any tinkering when it comes to the starting XI from their West Ham clash, but Silva certainly has options to change things if he feels otherwise. Former Liverpool youngster Harry Wilson and Bobby De Cordova-Reid, who both came on in the previous game from the bench, could be given a chance from the start, as could Raul Jimenez in the place of Rodrigo Muniz upfront.

Joao Palhinha will surely play an important role in the middle of the park, and the in-demand Portugal international will likely see the game against Liverpool as an opportunity to showcase his vast quality again ahead of the summer transfer window. The Merseysiders are among the clubs believed to be interested in his services.

Liverpool

It’s hard to put the finger precisely on the problem plaguing Liverpool at the moment, but rarely have they looked as indisposed and powerless as they did in recent games.

Earlier this month, they completely dismantled Manchester United at Old Trafford in the first half and were extremely unlucky to go to the break with just one goal to show for their efforts, but their performance dropped off notably in the second half and they ended up dropping two extremely important points. And they simply haven’t been the same since, suffering a shocking 0-3 defeat against Atalanta at Anfield and arguably an even more disappointing 0-1 one against Crystal Palace, also on their own turf. They beat Atalanta in Bergamo in the second leg this week, but the goal scored by Mohamed Salah from the spot early in the game obviously wasn’t enough by itself, and they looked completely bereft of attacking ideas for the rest of the match.

Not too long ago, the Anfield faithful had hoped to say farewell to Klopp with a quadruple and they did win the Carabao Cup by beating Chelsea in the final after getting past Fulham, but they were soon knocked out of the FA Cup and the Premier League title race, though still not out of reach, is out of their hands and highly unlikely to end the way they want it to.

Klopp’s team looks very tired, despite several important players coming back from injuries recently. Even worse, the charismatic German tactician himself seems to be very low on energy too.

Team News

The season is over for Joel Matip (ACL) and Thiago Alcantara (thigh), and at the moment, it appears unlikely that either the Cameroonian defender or the Spanish midfielder will ever play for the club again. Both have had numerous injury problems throughout their Liverpool spells, especially Thiago, and with their contracts expiring at the end of the season and the fact that both are past their 30th birthday, it remains to be seen if the club offers them new deals.

Conor Bradley is out as well with an ankle problem, which means the recent return of Trent Alexander-Arnold to action could not have been more timely.

The rest of the squad is available, but it’s hard to predict to what degree Klopp will change the team that started against Atalanta on Thursday. The team obviously needs to be shuffled, not only for its feeble performance in Bergamo, but for the fact that the Craven Cottage trip comes only three days later.

It feels safe to say that Alisson Becker, Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Alexis Mac Allister will all start, but for the rest of the team, Klopp is probably still trying to work things out.

Conclusion

Neither team has shown much consistency lately. Liverpool obviously have more quality in their ranks, but Fulham have already shown they can play and win against those positioned above in the table. On the other hand, the Cottagers have been beaten this month by Nottingham Forest away and Newcastle at home.

Liverpool certainly have the ability to bounce back and raise their levels greatly, and if that happens, there probably won’t be much Fulham can do to stop them. But otherwise, even an Atalanta-like thrashing of the Reds at the Cottage cannot be ruled out. It’s as hard as game as any to predict in terms of the outcome. The bookies have put fairly short odds on an away victory, but given what Liverpool have shown in recent matches, it feels an extremely risky bet.

The one thing that seems likely is that Fulham will play an open game, with practically nothing to lose and not much to gain in terms of table rankings. If so, and Liverpool find their scoring form at the other end, the game should be just as thrilling as the one Liverpool won 4-3 at Anfield.

Verdict: Both teams to score

Best odds: 11/20

Bookmaker: Unibet