EPL: Fulham line-up Bassey and Iwobi against Liverpool

Hoping to extend their perfect home record in the 2023-24 season, Liverpool welcome Fulham to their Anfield fortress for Sunday’s Premier League encounter.

The Reds thumped LASK Linz 4-0 on Thursday to qualify for the last 16 of the Europa League, while Marco Silva’s men controversially ran out 3-2 winners versus Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday night.

Austrian powerhouses LASK Linz became the 10th visiting team to test their mettle on the Anfield turf this season during Thursday’s Group E clash in the Europa League, and Thomas Sageder’s side quickly became the 10th club to depart empty-handed, as Liverpool cruised into the last 16 with a game to spare.

The Reds passed up the opportunity to qualify three weeks ago in a dampening 3-2 loss versus Toulouse, but with the French side only taking a point off of Union SG, Liverpool assured themselves of top spot courtesy of a Cody Gakpo brace, Luis Diaz header and Mohamed Salah’s 199th Reds goal.

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With nothing but pride on the line in their final group game versus Union SG later on this month, Klopp unsurprisingly hailed the importance of wrapping up progression early as Liverpool prepare for an unforgiving winter schedule, starting with the first of eight fixtures pencilled in for December this weekend.

Last weekend’s top-of-the-table showdown versus Manchester City did not exactly live up to the pre-game hype, but a fine Trent Alexander-Arnold strike rescued a point for the Reds in a 1-1 draw versus the treble winners, even if the referee’s whistle did have to come to their rescue when Ruben Dias tapped in after Manuel Akanji felled Alisson Becker.

Having missed the chance to usurp the reigning champions into first place, Liverpool have now been bumped down to third position by new leaders Arsenal – who hold a two-point lead over Klopp’s charges – but the Reds play host to Fulham having won all 10 of their home fixtures so far this term by a two-goal margin or more.

The Cottagers were also thanking their lucky stars for VAR during Monday’s frenetic contest with Wolverhampton Wanderers, who in turn were left to bemoan yet another batch of contentious decisions to go against them in a five-goal spectacular, where no fewer than three spot kicks were awarded in the second 45.

After Alex Iwobi and Matheus Cunha had cancelled each other’s strikes out, Fulham winger Willian netted twice from 12 yards – either side of a Hwang Hee-chan response from the spot – to bring an end to Fulham’s four-game winless run in the division, although Wolves boss Gary O’Neil reeled off a list of debatable calls that the officials admitted wrongly went against his side on the evening.

While Wolves may have received a hollow apology from the PGMOL, Fulham received a priceless three points in their bid to clamber away from danger, as the Cottagers languish in 14th in the table but with a comfortable 10-point cushion over Sheffield United in 18th place.

The feel-good factor in the Fulham camp may be short-lived, though, as they venture to Anfield having now conceded in each of their last nine matches in all tournaments, and not one of the Cottagers’ last six Premier League away games has seen Silva’s men come up trumps.

Fulham have also managed a paltry four goals from 16 Premier League games against Liverpool at Anfield – the worst ratio for any team to play at least 10 away games against a single opponent – but only a Salah spot kick could separate the two clubs in May’s top-flight fixture.

None of Klopp’s troops came out of the win over LASK with a new injury concern to report, which is more than can be said of the Reds’ stalemate with Man City last weekend, where both Alisson Becker and Diogo Jota tweaked leg muscles in the second half.

Alisson will remain in the treatment room for another couple of weeks, allowing Caoimhin Kelleher to make only his sixth Premier League start for the Reds, while Jota’s issue is a more severe one, and Klopp cannot say with any certainty when the Portuguese attacker might return.

Diaz should therefore hold his place in the hosts’ attack for the visit of Fulham, where Klopp will remain without his trio of long-term absentees in Andrew Robertson (shoulder), Thiago Alcantara (hip) and Stefan Bajcetic (calf), while Salah needs just one more strike to bring up a terrific 200 for the Merseyside giants.

As for the visitors, Silva will welcome indispensable midfielder Joao Palhinha back to the engine room with open arms after the Portugal international missed the win over Wolves through suspension; either Tom Cairney or Harrison Reed will make way.

The Cottagers also emerged unscathed from their beating of Wolves, but Issa Diop is not expected back from his foot problem just yet, while Adama Traore (thigh) and Rodrigo Muniz (knee) are also out of contention for the time being.

With both Iwobi and Willian making the net bulge against Wolves, ex-Liverpool winger Harry Wilson should be denied a starting berth against his former employers, but Silva has a dilemma in defence following Tosin Adarabioyo’s recovery from a groin procedure.

Liverpool possible starting lineup:
Kelleher; Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Van Dijk, Tsimikas; Szoboszlai, Mac Allister, Jones; Salah, Nunez, Diaz

Fulham possible starting lineup:
Leno; Castagne, Bassey, Ream, Robinson; Palhinha, Reed; Iwobi, Pereira, Willian; Jimenez