MatchThe opposition lowdown: Fulham

Recent form

Marco Silva's side arrive into this weekend's game on the back of a 3-2 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers in the top flight at Craven Cottage on Monday.

That saw the Cottagers head into this weekend in 14th place in the table. They have taken 15 points from their 13 league games this season, with four wins and six defeats.

Away from home, Fulham have won once in seven matches, against Everton on the opening weekend of the campaign. They did, however, take a point off league leaders Arsenal in August, and have also picked up a draw at Brighton & Hove Albion.

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The view from Fulham

Peter Rutzler, The Athletic

On Fulham's form this season…

Fulham are doing fine. They have not been exceptional but they are progressing steadily. Marco Silva described it as a 'solid' start last month and that feels about right. Especially after the team lost Aleksandar Mitrovic in the summer.

This whole campaign has revolved around adapting to his absence and the goals have dried up. Only the three promoted clubs have scored fewer goals. They currently have 13 on the board and by this stage last year, Mitrovic had nine on his own.

There were some lingering concerns about the team's form before the international break, particularly as the team have also been making more defensive errors than expected. But the win over Wolves has relieved the pressure. It established a 10-point gap to the bottom three.

The thing with Fulham is that they are generally beating the teams they expect to beat and losing to the ones where they expect to lose, with only one or two exceptions. That's a good way to be at this point for a team looking to stabilise their top-flight presence. Going forward, though, they will want to resolve their goalscoring issues.

On their key players...

Joao Palhinha and Bernd Leno are Fulham's two standouts. Leno has been in exceptional form once again and his saves have helped Fulham to key results, such as the win at Goodison Park and points at Brighton and Arsenal.

Palhinha nearly joined Bayern Munich in the summer but it has not drastically affected his form. He remains a crucial, tackling machine in midfield and he will thrive in games against the big teams, especially away at Anfield.

Alex Iwobi is another name who is becoming increasingly important for Fulham. Signed for £22m from Everton, he was a big investment from the club but his creativity has been much needed in an uncertain attack. He could well have a key role against Liverpool.

On Fulham's likely approach...

Marco Silva tends not to adapt his approach too much from game to game, standing firm with his 4-3-3 system. Fulham have adopted a more resilient approach, though, for these big away games, and that paid off at the Emirates where they were able to frustrate Arsenal for long spells.

Expect to see a compact 4-4-2 out of possession, but a team also keen to strike on the counter-attack.

Predicted line-up (4-3-3): Leno, Castagne, Bassey, Ream, Robinson, Palhinha, Iwobi, Pereira, Willian, Jimenez, De Cordova-Reid.

Previous meetings

Liverpool won when the sides met at Anfield back in May, with a Mohamed Salah penalty settling a tight contest.

At Craven Cottage in August 2022, a 2-2 draw was played out, with Salah and Darwin Nunez on target.

Fulham last won on Merseyside in March 2021, a 1-0 victory which was their first at Anfield since May 2012. Those are the only two away wins the Cottagers have recorded in this fixture.

What they said

Marco Silva

"It's always really tough to play at Anfield. The quality they have, the manager they have, the crowd is going to push them – they are three really important factors that can make things really difficult for us.

"If you look at it on paper, it shows it's going to be a really tough task for us because they have been doing really well, with the style they've been playing at home, and credit for them.

"It shows that it's going to be tough, but at the same time it's there for someone to break. We are going to be the next ones to play against them, [and] it's always a chance to break that home record that they have right now.

"This is a very good challenge but that is a motivation for us as well."