Liverpool V Fulham, Wednesday May 3, 20:00h, Anfield
Referee: Stuart Attwell.
Assistants: Darren Cann, Nick Hopton. Fourth official: Darren England.
VAR: Tony Harrington. Assistant VAR: Dan Cook.
We're all still sobering up from madness of that game against Tottenham, yet our next match is already here. They do come thick and fast, which I think is actually better for us. Less dwelling on seemingly infinite ways we manage to make things difficult for ourselves and more simply riding the high of last minute victory. It's fine, we won, move on to the next one. And next up is Fulham. How on Earth will we manage to make this one crazy? Here are some possible and very likely scenarios. Feel free to share yours as well.
Operation Big HeadGame starts with a controversial Fulham goal from a corner kick. Ball bounces to their player on the line who smacks in hard againt the post and it rebounds in a weird high arc. Their defender face palms himself in disbelief and while his hand is on his forehead the ball bounces off his hand into the goal. Referee sees nothing wrong with it and gives a goal. No VAR check. Marco Silva celebrates by running along the touchline, tripping himself and accidentally headbutting Jurgen Klopp. Klopp is given a yellow card. From here things unravel. Fulham are on top and manage to score again from a counter just before halftime. Two goals down, Liverpool put all their cards in attack and pin Fulham in their box throughout the second half. But still no goals. Pressure is relentless but in vain. In 85th minute we get a counter, Mo Salah is through on goal and is dragged from behind by a scrambling defender. He's brough down to the ground on the edge of the box. VAR reviews the incident, decides not to give a penatly or a red card. We scuffle the free kick, Salah gets a direct red card for protests and the game fizzles out.
Operation UnlikelyDominant start from Liverpool and Fulham are under serious pressure. Jota wriggles his way past the defence on the edge of the box, find Salah with a backheel and Mo is handled by Fulham defender in the box. Without a VAR check a penalty is given and a red card for Fulham defender. Referee evn ruffles Mo's hair and pinches his cheek. Pundits say it was a clear penalty and Salah is a good person. Liverpool continue to dominate. Half hour in, Henderson gets an injury and is replaced by Keita. Naby grabs the game by the scruff of the neck and creates two more goals for Liverpool. In 80th minute a rebounded shot falls to Keita 20m out and he whips an outside boot volley shot band in the top corner.
Operation BeachA nervy start by Liverpool is compounded by a series of near misses. It looks like the game is hanging in the balance and one goal will decide it. Some Fulham supporters came to the game determined to protest the 'on the beach mentality' of their players. Just before half time they inflate several beach balls and toss them on the pitch just in time for one of them to deflect a weak shot and put it past Alisson. VAR checks but a goal stands. Dermot Gallagher days later claims that it was the right call because 'with summer approaching, all teams should be prepared for the influx of beach balls in our daily lives'. BBC runs with headline article 'Why Liverpool have learned nothing since 2009'.
I think those are all very reasonable scenarios, but some may disagree with some minor details of it.
Fulham eh? Quick look at their table position suggests it's a team that is the definition of the 'on the beach' cliche. It would be tempting to look at them and expect a quick rollover victory. If only it was that easy. In reality they gave a good performance against Manchester City just days ago and though riddled with injuries and suspensions - are very much up for a fight. This Fulham team will line up with lot of players very much fighting for their place in the team, eager to prove they can deliver and be an important part of next campaign. So we should very much be hopeful of getting a good result - but also expect a solid performance from Fulham. They are missing a few important players, Kurzawa, Pereira, Ream are injured and Mitrović is still serving his suspension because he's a player and not a referee. Harry Wilson might start and look to prove a point in his first performance back at Anfield. I would certainly keep an eye on him if he does.
Boys in red will probably line up pretty close to what we've seen recently. Perhaps Hendo will start, in fact I expect him to. Maybe Matip for Konate, just to keep them both fresh and playing in high tempo. Attack though, I think it's Jota, Gakpo and Mo. Diaz is not starting two in a row and Nunez is an impact sub until he isn't. We have enough firepower to win this in any case, so let's do it.
