Fulham make the trip to Anfield on Saturday to take on Premier League leaders Liverpool
Arne Slot will be minded to thank Marco Silva before Liverpool kick-off their game against Fulham at Anfield on Saturday. After all, the former Everton manager and his Cottagers side did do the Reds a big favour last weekend.
After Liverpool saw their final Merseyside league derby at Goodison Park be postponed because of Storm Darragh, Arsenal had the opportunity to close the gap on Slot’s table-toppers to four points.
But as many teams have found, Fulham are no pushovers and they held the Gunners to a 1-1 draw at Craven Cottage, which Chelsea then took full advantage by beating Tottenham Hotspur 4-2 to move up to second and become the nearest challengers to the Reds.
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The Cottagers, meanwhile, sit 10th and just two points behind fifth-placed Nottingham Forest. And while they lost both league matches to Liverpool last season, as well as losing the two-legged Carabao Cup semi-final between the teams, all four games were closely fought.
But Fulham will be without five players for this weekend’s trip to Merseyside. Captain Tom Cairney and Calvin Bassey are suspended while the latter’s centre-back partner Joachim Andersen is injured along with Reiss Nelson and Harrison Reed.
Silva said when asked for the injury latest: “No fresh news, really, just Joachim and Harrison Reed, plus Reiss Nelson from the game we played against Brighton.
“They are going to be out for the game, and of course, the third game of Tom Cairney, plus the fifth yellow card from Calvin Bassey.”
Reds boss Slot will give a full team news update at his press conference on Friday morning (9.15am start). But the Dutchman has already received a boost with both Diogo Jota and Federico Chiesa stepping up their rehabs at the AXA Training Centre.
While it remains unclear if the forwards will be in contention for the squad Slot names against Fulham, they are closing in on a full return, which is timely given the amount of matches Liverpool still have to play this month.
The Reds will be without defenders Ibrahima Konate, Conor Bradley and Kostas Tsimikas for the visit of the Cottagers while midfielder Alexis Mac Allister is suspended.
Silva, meanwhile, is full of praise for his opponents and opposite number. The Fulham boss said: “Really, really strong in any moment of the game, making life really difficult for any team that they play against.
“Great, in terms of the collective quality of the team, the impact of the manager, and, of course, the individual quality they have. I think everything together is the reason why they are on the top of the league.
“In the Champions League, they won six out of six, and because of that, they deserve all the credit for the way they have been playing.
“It’s going to be the next one for us, a really tough game, but we have been responding well for these type of games so far this season.
“Even against them last season, the games at Anfield were really tight games, and the team responded really well, and let’s hope we can have the same type of performance, but with a different result for us, if we can.”
On Slot and the job he has done since Jurgen Klopp‘s departure, the Portuguese added: “The impact from Arne Slot has been top. Okay, the expectations were there, all the eyes were there on him and on the team, how they were going to react after a big personality, a big character left the club, and was so important for the club the last nine years.
“He showed his quality so far, the impact that he’s had in that football club, on the players as well. You can feel that they are all on the same page as a football club. When you are doing so well, achieving such good results and playing such good football in the Premier League, Champions League, of course credits for everybody.
“And, on the top, has to be the manager, and Arne Slot has been great for them, definitely.”
