53 min:Liverpool have been much brighter since the break, though they are wasteful with their latest corner.
52 min: And the plane continues to buzz Anfield. That’s one industry that doesn’t appear to have been too badly affected by the pandemic.
50 min: Neco Williams forces a corner, and that’s taken short. He gets the ball back and smashes the ball into the Kop with a skewed hack. There’s a plane above, and it doesn’t seem to be congratulating Rangers on their title. Instead it holds a message for unity. Phew, nothing too controversial.
48 min: Amazing save from Areola, as Jota smashes a dropping ball towards goal. It looked in, and the fake crowd thought it was, only for it to saved by a strong right arm.
47 min: Lemina booked for hauling back Andy Robertson.
Sky Sports Statto(@SkySportsStatto)
😬@LFC have conceded the opening goal in each of their last 6 @premierleague games at Anfield - as many as in their previous 32 such games, going back to March 2019
They have scored just 1 goal from 83 first half shots over their last 13 PL games pic.twitter.com/jSKfaLdGaS
46 min: We are back underway, with no changes made by either manager. Jürgen Klopp was pictured taking a hefty swig from his water bottle, though we can only presume it’s water.
Colum on Josh Maja’s wardrobe malfunction: “Many years ago the huge Welsh rugby player Geoff Wheel had cause to change his shorts during an international match. His colleagues gathered around him to provide a little modesty, or in the words of the great Bill McLaren “so that he doesn’t frighten anybody”.”
Mary Waltz has her say: “As much as I enjoy pitching into the “what’s wrong with Liverpool” slag off it ignores how well Parker has his squad playing. They were clearly the better side, I think they are going to escape no matter how this fixture ends.”
Fulham get the goal they deserved, and they might have had more. Salah’s ditziness for Lemina’s goal symbolic of yet another no-show from Liverpool. There has been much talk of how fans could change Liverpool’s outlook but they would have been booed and jeered off for that display.
45+1 min: One minute added on. Liverpool have been abject and a break cannot come soon enough for them.
Well well. It had been coming. Liverpool initially clear a free-kick and Salah daydreams, only for Lemina to steal in thump an angled shot past Alisson.
Photograph: Phil Noble/Reuters
Mario Lemina gives Fulham a well-deserved lead. Photograph: Phil Noble/AFP/Getty Images
44 min:Fulham putting the pressure on again as Tete forces a corner. Scott Parker, in natty herringbone jacket, curses his team’s failure to get the ball into a more dangerous area.
42 min: Jota booked for tripping up Lemina. Free-kick to Fulham. This too would be ambitious to shoot from here. Tosin is the target for a lofted ball, and fails to make contact. Again, he had been allowed to escape.
40 min: Liverpool, it has to be said, have not been much good here. Whatever Klopp meant to happen with seven changes has probably not happened.
38 min: Tete is booked for what looks a decent challenge on Jota. It also gives a free-kick chance for Liverpool. Shaqiri takes it on, wafting it over the bar. That was from some way out. Ambitious to say the least.
37 min: Fulham’s attacking is more direct than that of Liverpool, and is causing more problems at the moment. Tempting to consider what Salah might have done with the chances presented to Maka and Lookman.
35 min: A golden Fulham chance. Lookman escapes all the way down the left, and cuts in, his delay letting Neco Williams in to pull off a block. He might perhaps have laid up Maja.
Fulham should be ahead after a great chance for Ademola Lookman. Photograph: Phil Noble/Reuters
34 min: Robertson plays an aimless ball and it’s easily intercepted. He and the absent ‘Trent’ have not had good seasons, when they used to be so good.
32 min: Josh Maja’s shorts have split, and he has to run to the sidelines to change them. In the days when crowds were in stadia that used to result in a wolf whistle from the terrace wags.
Wardrobe malfunction for Josh Maja. Photograph: Phil Noble/Reuters
31 min: Keita takes a shot from distance. He might have considered passing the ball to a teammate rather than going for glory.
29 min: Fulham chance: Maja almost gets a toe to it, but Alisson smashes into him and wins the ball. Good goalkeeping. It needed to be. Fulham are getting plenty of crosses in, and Liverpool are having all sorts of problems with that.
27 min: A Liverpool attack, but one that sees James Milner swamped by Fulham defenders.
25 min: Remind us: which is the away side here? That in red or white? And which are the champions of England? What a strange course of events.
23 min: More Fulham attacking. And Rhys Williams has to clear behind. Maja was lurking, as was Lookman. Scott Parker’s men really fancy this one.
21 min: Fulham still keeping calm with their passing. They eventually force another opportunity with one of those long balls, but Maja again can’t get enough on it.
19 min: Salah’s first shot. He holds the ball up, spins and then shoots. Wide but a decent effort.
Photograph: Clive Brunskill/AFP/Getty Images
18 min: Jim, via DM, tells me that Ben Davies is injured/ill. That probably qualifies him for the role of Liverpool central defender.
16 min: Salah is playing centrally today, what with his usual bagmen being either on the bench or crocked. He is wandering where he likes while Keita is pushing on too.
14 min: Fulham look relaxed. That draw between West Brom and Newcastle was not the worst result for them, even it was among the worst games ever played. Christ, it was bad.
13 min: Liverpool attack, Milner speeds on for a return pass off Neco Williams but it doesn’t get there. Salah heads down the channels but has to turn the ball back. It’s all a bit pedestrian.
Photograph: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC/Getty Images
11 min: Fulham’s turn to pass it around, and Liverpool’s pressing is not exactly rigorous. Lookman then cuts inside and shoots on goal. He misses and an offside flag goes up. The flag was up incorrectly so that’s a good chance gone begging. Liverpool seem likely to cough up some others, mind you.
9 min: Robertson and Jota link down the left as Liverpool spend a sustain period in. the Fulham final third. The visitors are sat deep, and seem happy for Liverpool to pass around.
7 min: Keita is in midfield and has plenty to prove. Of all Klopp’s signings in that 2017-19 period, he’s the one who has produced the least. And so much was expected of him too.
5 min: Liverpool look, as might be expected, a tad disjointed. But Jota, so good to have him back, almost makes something happen, only for Reed to block off an attempt to volley the ball back across goal.
Diogo Jota makes a welcome return to the Liverpool starting XI. Photograph: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC/Getty Images
3 min: An early dart for Salah, who loses the ball and then wins it back with some typical determination then falls to the floor...then a chance for Maja. Great cross from the right and he scoops over. That was a very good chance.
Fulham squander an early chance. Photograph: Phil Noble/AFP/Getty Images
2 min: Luke Jones emails in: “Phillips and Williams have been available since the beginning of Liverpool’s injury woes. Everything Klopp has done - playing Henderson and Fabinho back there, bringing in Kabak and Davies - has been done to avoid this pairing. Oooof.”
Penny for Ben Davies’ thoughts too.
1 min: And away we go...Fulham are unbeaten for their last seven away from home.
You’ll Never Walk Alone rings out for the last time as the anthem of both the Scottish and English champions. Neither Celtic nor Liverpool will be that come August, now that Rangers are champions north of the border.
Jürgen Klopp speaks to Sky Sports.
Two changes we had to make because of injurers, the others we thought made sense. We are in an intense period. We thought this fits together, getting fresh legs in and trying to give Fulham a fight. Diogo has been missing a lot. He could play 30 minutes three days ago and now we can play him from the start. I think everyone can recognise it’s not easy. That’s how it is. It’s our situation and we deal with it.
Liverpool fielding their 16th central defensive partnership of the season. Pete Hooton of The Farm, Barry Grant, Sinbad, Alan Bleasdale and Baron Michael Howard have all been given their turn so this time it’s Nat Phillips and Rhys Williams’ turn.
So there’s this.
OptaJoe(@OptaJoe)
7 - Jürgen Klopp has made seven changes to his @LFC starting XI this afternoon, last making more between Premier League games in 2015-16. Indeed, the Reds have won their last three league games when Klopp has made at least seven changes. Hail-Mary. pic.twitter.com/w0hGzn6zcf
Andy Brassell spoke to the Fulham midfielder, on the bench today.
How did these teams get on last time out?
Scott Parker speaks to Sky Sports.
To freshen things up a bit. I feel like these are the best dynamics to try and get a result here. We are confident we can cause Liverpool some problems with it. It gives you a bit of confidence, it’s fair to sat Liverpool are in a bit of a sticky patch. We are against a team that has an array of talent, a wounded animal. I want my ream to have a confidence that we can get a result. The work we have done has been a short turnaround. The names that are coming in are big quality.
Scott E Parker fancies this one. He’s going gung-ho, with what looks like four forwards. Bobby Reid and Kenny Tete come in for Antonee Robinson and Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
Peter Rutzler(@peterrutzler)
Four at the back and two in midfield at Anfield! A bold Fulham lineup that screams the word "dynamic":#FFC: Areola; Tete, Andersen, Adarabioyo, Aina; De Cordova-Reid, Lemina, Reed, Lookman; Cavaleiro, Maja.
Jürgen Klopp has made seven (seven) changes from the team that lost 1-0 to Chelsea in midweek. Neco Williams, Rhys Williams and Nathaniel Phillips are in the back four - or is it a five - Fabinho and Trent Alexander-Arnold are benched and Ozan Kabak is out with a knock. Mané is dropped to the bench as Diogo Jota makes his first start in three months and Xherdan Shaqiri also returns to form a front three alongside Salah. Roberto Firmino has a knock too.
Now, Jürgen said he wouldn’t be putting his eggs in the Champions League basket but that selection looks as if he might be doing something on those lines.
Is there a better time for a relegation-threatened club to travel to Anfield than now? Once-proud Liverpool have been cowed by five (five) home defeats in succession, each one of them producing ever more bewilderment from Jürgen Klopp. Fulham have been playing pretty well of late, though like Brighton they suffer from having a powderpuff attack. Perhaps Liverpool’s defence might be obliging, they have been for a while. Fulham have won just once at Anfield, in May 2012, thanks to an own-goal from Mrtn Skrtl, but ought to fancy this one. No, really. Things really have got that silly.
Kick-off is at 2pm. Join me.
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