Key events
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Team news: Salah and Robertson start, Fulham unchanged
Mo Salah returns to the Liverpool team after being manacled to the bench in Paris. Andy Robertson also starts, as do Curtis Jones, Cody Gakpo and 17-year-old Rio Ngumoha. Hugo Ekitike, Milos Kerkez, Joe Gomez, Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch all drop to the bench.
Fulham haven’t played since a 3-1 win over Burnley on 21 March. Marco Silva has named an unchanged side, which means an exciting front four of Harry Wilson, Josh King, Oscar Bobb and Rodrigo Muniz.
Liverpool (poss 4-2-3-1) Mamardashvili; Frimpong, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Szoboszlai, Jones; Salah, Wirtz, Ngumoha; Gakpo
Subs: Woodman, Gomez, Kirkez, Isak, Mac Allister, Chiesa, Ekitike, Gravenberch, Nyoni.
Fulham (4-2-3-1) Leno; Castagne, Andersen, Bassey, Robinson; Berge, Iwobi; Wilson, King, Bobb; Muniz.
Subs: Lecomte, Diop, Cuenca, Sessegnon, Lukic, Cairney, Smith Rowe, Chukwueze, Raul Jimenez.
Referee Anthony Taylor.
Andy Hunter
Arne Slot has said last season’s title triumph “postponed” the end of an era at Liverpool but that the club were under no illusions a rebuild was required when appointing him as Jürgen Klopp’s successor.
Two more links to the Klopp era will be removed this summer when Andy Robertson and Mohamed Salah leave on free transfers. Virgil van Dijk, Alisson and Joe Gomez, the remaining players from the squad that delivered Premier League and Champions League success to Anfield under Klopp, will then enter the final years of their contracts.
Slot is under intense pressure after a dismal season that has brought 16 defeats, a figure he knows is unacceptable. The head coach, however, insists he and the club hierarchy, including the sporting director, Richard Hughes, and the owner, Fenway Sports Group, remain aligned on the reasons for the problems, including an inevitable transition period after Klopp. The turmoil that accompanies transition, Slot believes, was delayed by last season’s Premier League title.
Preamble
Pop quiz, hotshot. Which of Liverpool’s next two games is more important: Fulham (H) or Paris Saint-Germain (H). It’s the Fulham game we’re covering today, so let’s try to hype that within an inch of its life make the case for that being the big one. It’s pretty simple: Liverpool have a 5-10 per cent of overcoming a 2-0 deficit against one of the greatest club sides in modern history, so they should prioritise qualifying for next year’s Ch£mpion$ League. Next stop, rocket science.
Liverpool have a tough Premier League run-in, including matches away to Everton, Man Utd and Aston Villa, and their home form will probably determine whether they finish in the top five. Even allowing for some good recent home form – Liverpool have scored 24 goals in the last seven games at Anfield – this is unlikely to be an easy night. Fulham can give any Premier League team a game, as they showed that last season when they took four points off a Liverpool side that romped to the title.
It’s too easy, when spring comes around, that Fulham are safely in mid-table and have nothing much to play for. Wrong! They started the day in ninth and have every chance of qualifying for Europe for the first time since 2011-12. They could even reach the Champions League: if they win today, they will be only two points behind Liverpool.
Kick off 5.30pm BST
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