Fulham warn Liverpool of “sensational” threat – but fear Reds can “run away” with win

Fulham have a “sensational” player who Liverpool need to be worried about this weekend, but the Reds are still being backed to win handsomely.

Jurgen Klopp‘s side head to Craven Cottage on Sunday afternoon, knowing that anything other than a win would feel demoralising.

Liverpool take on a Fulham side with little to play for between now and the end of the season, but they are capable of being a big threat on their day.

The Cottagers have already won at home to Arsenal this season and another below-par Reds performance could easily lead to a bad result.

Ahead of Sunday’s match, Henry Jackson spoke to Fulham fan and journalist Kyle Bonn (@the_bonnfire) to discuss the season to date, the weekend clash and much more.

 

Since we last spoke in December, have things got better or worse?

Things have stayed about the same, which is a good thing!

There are still major holes in midfield that must be addressed in the summer, but the emergence of Rodrigo Muniz up front has been sensational.

Replacing Aleksandar Mitrovic with an academy product is something nobody saw coming, and it saves the club a boatload of money they can spend at other positions.

There have been some great results and some awful performances, but that will happen in today’s Premier League.

Overall, it’s a positive end to the season to not be part of the relegation battle, even if Fulham seem to have headed to the beach a bit earlier than we would have liked.

 

Who have been Fulham’s best and worst players this season?

Incredibly, Willian and Bobby Reid have been great yet again, despite both being over 30 years old. Their contributions have been huge to keeping this club afloat and pushing it forward.

Bernd Leno hasn’t quite been able to recreate his season-long heroics from last year, but he’s done just fine, and the emergence of Muniz has been a wonderful bonus.

Alex Iwobi has been wonderful in his first season as a low-risk, high-reward signing, while the emergence of Tosin Adarabioyo has been massive.

The club has a number of valuable assets that they can hopefully cash in on in the near future, such as Tosin, Joao Palhinha and Antonee Robinson, and reinvest accurately.

On the flip side, the midfield has been a mess. Palhinha may leave this summer if Bayern Munich are still interested, and there are very few remaining assets in the middle who inspire confidence in next season.

 

Is Silva still the right man for the job?

Marco Silva is absolutely the man for the job.

The list of players who have overperformed anyone’s expectations for them under Silva grows by the month.

He is tactically adept and has the versatility to adapt as a season goes on. He can navigate an injury crisis well and he can develop talent and get the most out of mediocre players.

There is no coaching search at Craven Cottage this summer, and rightly so.

 

How do you assess Liverpool’s title hopes?

Oh my. We were all counting on you and Arsenal to give us something different, but you both botched it!

Man City winning another title would be the biggest bore, but sadly, it has that same feeling of inevitability as when they finally passed Arsenal last season.

Unfortunately for Liverpool, it feels as if the Gunners are better equipped to challenge City than you are, given the massive injuries Jurgen Klopp has been forced to navigate.

The more Liverpool played with fire late in Games, the more it felt like this slip was inevitable.

Given the injuries and other squad constraints, the job Klopp has done this season is nothing short of remarkable, but it feels as if there are too many roadblocks to the Premier League title.

The one thing going for them is if they are eliminated from the Europa League, they won’t have to worry about navigating European Football at the same time down the stretch, which does matter.

 

Who would you like to see win the league?

Anyone but City at this point – let’s have some fun shall we?

There is no reason to have the same nation-state-owned club winning every year.

From a neutral, journalistic point of view, either Arsenal or Liverpool winning would provide plenty of interesting storylines, but I think I’ve had enough of City for now.

 

As for Sunday, where will the key battles take place?

For Fulham, it always starts with Pahlinha, who needs to be a rock in the middle against Liverpool’s exceptional transitional play.

Robinson and Timothy Castagne (Kenny Tete? Probably not) will have their hands full on the outside and need to limit the times they are beaten one-on-one.

Going forward, if Pereira doesn’t have it through the middle, which is usually a coin flip, they will need to rely on Iwobi to run transitions and create danger in the attacking third.

This Game has the potential to be a track meet just like it was in the reverse fixture which ended 4-3.

Fulham put in a fantastic shift that match and Liverpool will have to be far sturdier to avoid another slip in the title chase.

Still, if they bang one in early, Fulham have the potential to collapse, especially now that their season is essentially over.

 

If you could only have one Liverpool player at Fulham, who would it be?

Oh man, where to start?

It’s got to be Alexis Mac Allister, who I’ve repeatedly yelled about being far too underrated as a ‘Signing of the Season’ candidate.

The Argentine is just 25 years old and has been exceptional all year long in both phases of play – a true No. 8 star in midfield.

Watching the difference between Liverpool last season and this season starts and ends with the influence of Mac Allister in midfield.

Of course, Mohamed Salah is a star, but the way Mac Allister has single-handedly turned around Liverpool’s midfield – which was swiss cheese last season – has put stars (and dollar signs) in my eyes.

 

Finally, what’s your prediction?

Fulham have been so inconsistent over the past two months that it’s been tough to predict which version of the Whites will show up, but as the end of the season nears, they’ve been more and more mentally soft.

If Liverpool can crack the lid off the goal early, they have the potential to run away with this. With the club having suffered a few adverse results of late, it will be hard to keep them down for long.

Liverpool should come away as 3-1 or 4-1 winners in the end.

Of course, if Willian scores a stunner and Pereira has one of his trademark masterclasses, and Liverpool miss a few chances (which they’re prone to lately), it could end very differently.