November 24, 2024

Liverpool v Fulham: Premier League – live!

Fulham #Fulham

11.23am EST 11:23

Here’s Andy Hunter’s report from Anfield.

Mario Lemina deepens Liverpool’s gloom with vital winner for Fulham

11.15am EST 11:15

Ewan Murray has written this on Jürgen Klopp’s probable successor as Liverpool manager.

Steven Gerrard had to embrace the pressure to turn Rangers around | Ewan Murray

11.10am EST 11:10

Fulham’s Harrison Reed speaks to Sky Sports.

It’s massive, we came here with confidence. That was the message, [Scott Parker] speaks about coming here and winning, not getting a result. The first half was superb, one of our best performances this season. Second half we put our bodies on the line. I think we did want it more and that was a big factor in taking the three points today. We feel it’s been coming. We feel like we have been building.

Updated at 11.23am EST

11.03am EST 11:03

The comments are in.

First, Niall: “Liverpool’s fall since before Xmas has been precipitous. I’d like to think calm heads will prevail during the maelstrom that is an awful run of form. Trophies aside the last 5 years supporting the Reds have been the best fun since I was a kid in the 80’s. I want to see Klopp get another tilt at it next season. As a a great man once said, we go again.”

Next, Colum, back for more, actually, it’s another Colum : “Dare one even breathe the word ‘replacement’ but with Gerrard taking Rangers to League success in Scotland, Klopp is probably looking over his shoulder. Something has gone awry with Liverpool and injury is obviously partly to blame but some of the players look as though their hearts aren’t in it. Jota is one of the few bright spots today. Just hope we scrape a draw against Fulham. At Anfield. That really is saying something.”

Now, Jeremy: “So just tuned in for an exciting finish. Seems Scott Parker is dressed as one of the Liverpool Spice Boys! That 1996 FA Cup final was lost by Liverpool 0-1 too! Is it an omen in the threads?”

Then Simon: “This is the greatest collapse in PL history from a team that was unbeatable and, remember, one of the few teams who had the advantage of home fans to set them on their way earlier this season. Their inevitable triumph in the UCL will only serve as a fitting end to this crazy Covid season.”

The last word, some (sort of) positivity from Philippa: “Instead of sobbing into my glass, I’m trying to find a new and more positive perspective: this team is so kindly that, after the relentless winning of the last few seasons, they’ve decided to give others the chance to break records, succeed where they don’t expect to and generally have a lovely time at Anfield. For a while anyway…”

Updated at 11.13am EST

10.56am EST 10:56

Full-time: Liverpool 0-1 Fulham

Liverpool were – yet again – well off it. Fulham seized their chance, defending that Lemina goal with assurance having been the better team and deservedly ahead. Liverpool are teetering towards real disaster. Somehow, they keep getting worse. Fulham, though, are alive and kicking in the relegation battle. Watch out Newcastle and Brighton.

Fulham players celebrate.. Photograph: Phil Noble/AFP/Getty Images …as Liverpool fall to defeat yet again. Photograph: Matt West/BPI/REX/Shutterstock

Updated at 11.06am EST

10.54am EST 10:54

90+6 min: Phillips has a dig that flies wide. Areola lies down to waste time. He takes an age over his goal kick. Mitrovic is penalised for a foul. Time being added on here that nobody knows where it came from. Alisson goes up for the final corner from Shaqiri. Areola tips it away…and that’s it. Six defeats in a row for Liverpool, a vital win for Fulham.

Updated at 10.54am EST

10.51am EST 10:51

90+4 min: Great defending by Anderson prevents a certain goal. The ball was headed to the feet of Mané. Heroic stuff. Alisson is up. And Lemina is coming away. Keita is booked for legging him up. Was that the denial of a goalscoring opportunity even though it was in Fulham’s half?

10.49am EST 10:49

90+2 min: Reed robs Mané on the edge of the box. It’s like a rolling maul in there. Fulham hacking everything away they can.

10.47am EST 10:47

89 min: Fulham have a counterattack. RLC does the usual of beating a couple of men, before passing to a trundling Mitrovic, who chooses not to run the ball into the corner. That was too much effort. He has a shot instead. Easy for Allison. And Liverpool can go back down the other end.

10.45am EST 10:45

87 min: Two offsides for Liverpool in quick succession betray a shapelessness, a lack of ideas. Klopp has whacked on attacking players and hoped they would do something. They are now operating at cross purposes. That’s desperation for you.

10.43am EST 10:43

85 min: Final Fulham change: Cavaleiro off, Mitrovic on, presumably for his tireless run. On Sky, Jamie Carrragher now talking about “mentality monsters” and “mentality midgets”. It’s got to the wibble stage.

Wibble. Photograph: Bert Hill/BBC

Updated at 10.50am EST

10.41am EST 10:41

84 min: Alisson has the freedom of Liverpool’s half to himself. Liverpool have a corner, from which Phillips’ flicked header is cleared by Areola then hacked into the air.

10.39am EST 10:39

83 min: Fulham change: off goes the excellent Lookman, on comes Robinson.

10.39am EST 10:39

82 min: All Liverpool, but ‘Trent’ whips in a cross that Areola does well to claim, not that anyone was up there challenging him.

Photograph: Phil Noble/AFP/Getty Images

Updated at 10.43am EST

10.37am EST 10:37

80 min: ‘Trent’ whips the ball in, Mané heads back, and there is nobody there to knock it in. The radar is off for so many Liverpool players.

10.33am EST 10:33

76 min: Fulham sitting back and back and back. It would be a grave disappointment if they don’t hold on here. But they are inviting real pressure.

10.31am EST 10:31

74 min: RLC again carries the ball to try and eat up time but Liverpool press the ball out. Neco Williams is the outlet again but delays his cross. Then RLC comes away with the ball. Lookman looks to hold the ball in the corner, which seems a bit previous considering how long is left on the clock.

10.29am EST 10:29

72 min: Real Liverpool pressure now. Neco Williams sets up Shaqiri for a shot he drags wide. Fulham now living far more dangerously.

10.28am EST 10:28

71 min: Chaotic scenes at last in the Fulham box, as Mané heads a Keita cross off the bar and there are all types of panics in getting the next two phases of possession under control.

Photograph: John Powell/Liverpool FC/Getty Images

Updated at 10.37am EST

10.26am EST 10:26

70 min: Nice skill for RLC’s first touch. He’s on to bring a bit more control to midfield.

10.26am EST 10:26

69 min: Simon McMahon: “Afternoon John. Liverpool obviously doing their best to make Celtic’s title defence look convincing. You’d have got long odds at the start of the season for both of those teams to be 20+ points adrift at the start of March.”

10.24am EST 10:24

66 min: Shaqiri’s corner causes problems and several players swing at the ball, including Mané who stages a near-replicant of his Chelsea fresh-air effort. What has happened to Mané? He was absolutely brilliant.

10.22am EST 10:22

65 min: Fulham holding a line on the edge of their box, with Liverpool yet to produce anything beyond that Jota shot, and that was a half-chance. A well-taken half-chance and an even better save but so little is happening.

10.20am EST 10:20

63 min: Lookman is fouled, and Fulham get a free-kick on the edge of the Liverpool box. Jota comes away with it, only for Lemina to chase him down and win the ball.

10.19am EST 10:19

62 min: Mané is coming on, and Wijnaldum, unusually anonymous, at least compared to when Liverpool were in good form, goes off.

10.17am EST 10:17

60 min: Liverpool, despite that improvement, have lacked crispness in their passing. Milner is the latest to make a mistake and Cavaleiro speeds away, only to find himself without allies. He eventually cuts in and shoots wide.

10.14am EST 10:14

57 min: That’s what the plane said. Liverpool Football Club, champions of all England, reduced to sub-LinkedIn mottoes. How the mighty have fallen.

Ian Doyle (@IanDoyleSport)

A plane flies loudly overhead. We can’t see it but we can hear it. The television informs us the banner says “Unity is Strength – Let’s Go Reds – YNWA”. We have reached that point, folks.

March 7, 2021

10.13am EST 10:13

56 min: Neco Williams has been a decent outlet for Liverpool. He forces a corner that results in a foul on the Fulham goalie from Nat Phillips.

10.12am EST 10:12

55 min: Fulham attack on the counter and Lookman skips past Phillips but can’t get on to his favoured right foot. The resultant corner is wasteful, a pearoller of an effort.

10.09am EST 10:09

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.

10.08am EST 10:08

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.

Photograph: Phil Noble/PA The banner reads ‘Unity is Strength – Lets Go Reds YNWA’. Photograph: Phil Noble/PA

Updated at 10.20am EST

10.06am EST 10:06

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.

10.04am EST 10:04

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

March 7, 2021

10.03am EST 10:03

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.

9.50am EST 09:50

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”.”

Geoff Wheel. Frightening. Photograph: Colorsport/REX/Shutterstock

Updated at 10.05am EST

9.49am EST 09:49

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.”

9.48am EST 09:48

Half-time: Liverpool 0-1 Fulham

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.

9.45am EST 09:45

Goal! Liverpool 0-1 Fulham (Lemina, 45)

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

Updated at 9.51am EST

9.44am EST 09:44

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.

9.43am EST 09:43

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.

9.40am EST 09:40

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.

9.39am EST 09:39

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.

9.37am EST 09:37

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.

9.35am EST 09:35

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

Updated at 9.41am EST

9.34am EST 09:34

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.

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