LIVERPOOL kick off their Premier League campaign with a tricky trip to newly promoted Fulham at Craven Cottage.
And the Reds will be hoping to build on their 3-1 Community Shield win over Manchester City.
- Start time: 12:30pm BST
- TV/Live stream: BT Sport 1 / Now TV
- Fulham XI: Rodak; Tete, Tosin, Ream, Robinson; Palhinha, Reed; Andreas, Kebano, Cordova-Reid; Mitrovic
- Liverpool XI: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Van Dijk, Robertson; Fabinho, Henderson, Thiago; Diaz, Salah, Firmino
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That’s all from Fulham
Fulham picked up their first point on their return to the Premier League after an exciting 2-2 draw with Liverpool at Craven Cottage.
The Cottagers opened the scoring after 32 minutes when Kenny Tete’s brilliant cross from the right found Aleksandar Mitrovic in the far post where he beat Trent Alexander-Arnold in the air and headed the ball to the back of Alisson’s net.
The Reds lacked their lethal edge from last season but saw Luiz Diaz hit the post from a tight angle on the left on 39 minutes.
Neeskens Kebano almost doubled the West Londoners’ lead in the 57th minute when his effort from the right hit Alisson’s right-hand post.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp brought Darwin Nunez on in the second half and he scored his first ever Premier League goal on his debut in the 64th minute thanks to a stunning back-heel after an assist by Mohamed Salah.
But Fulham regained the lead thanks to a penalty from Mitrovic after 72 minutes as he was brought down by Virgil van Dijk inside the box.
However, Salah resued a point for the visitors in the 80th minute when he was set up in front of Marek Rodak by Nunez.
Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson almost scored the winner during stoppage time when his long-range curling effort rattled Rodak’s crossbar.
That’s all from us here at SunSport, have a great day!
Credit: GETTY Credit: GETTY Jurgen Klopp reacts
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp claimed his side had a “really bad game”
Klopp told BT Sport: “We got a point from a really bad game from my side so now it’s a question of ‘How can that happen?’
“The attitude was not right in the beginning and then we wanted to fight back but it wasn’t easy any more.
“The pitch was dry, stuff like this, we played really in their cards most of the time.
“The result is fine, I don’t think we deserved more than that but the performance was massively improvable”
Credit: GETTY Marco Silva reacts
Fulham manager Marco Silva praised his players, especially Aleksandar Mitrovic.
Silva told BT Sport: “We have to respect the top, top quality they have but we have to do our job and trust in ourselves.
“We showed fantastic organisation from the start until the end of the match. Our first half was almost perfect, the way we controlled and worked.
“I know the quality Mitro [Aleksandar Mitrovic] has. I’m here to take the best from my players and we are going on from last season. Mitro is not just goals and if somebody thinks that they can forget it.
“The job he did this afternoon for the team, his pressure, his helping the midfield and helping the backline, it would have been enough even if he hadn’t scored.
“I have to congratulate everyone from Marek [Rodak] to Mitro, but the work he did without the ball this afternoon was fantastic”
Credit: GETTY
Tim Ream reacts
Fulham captain Tim Ream revealed his team did “exactly” what they wanted to do to Liverpool.
Ream told BT Sport: “We did exactly what we wanted to do.
“We want to make it tough for teams to come here. We knew that if we could be aggressive and take the game to them they would find it difficult.
“Whether they were prepared for that or not, that’s on them but we knew what our game plan was and we did it pretty much perfectly.
“It’s a huge boost of confidence for us but it sets the bar for where we need to be for every match”
Credit: GETTY Updated table
Fulham and Liverpool start the season in second and third place in the Premier League table respectively.
Arsenal are still top of the league after yesterday’s 2-0 win at Crystal Palace.
Of course, everything can change now that the rest of the fixtures are set to take place.
More below:
Stats
Liverpool dominated 67 per cent of possession throughout the match against Fulham.
The Reds registered a total of 11 shots, four of which were on target.
The Cottagers, on the other hand, produced nine shots, three of which were on target.
The Merseysiders had a perfect disciplinary record whereas the West Londoners had Kenny Tete and Bobby Decordova-Reid booked
FT: Fulham 2-2 Liverpool
Fulham picked up their first point on their return to the Premier League after an exciting clash with Liverpool at Craven Cottage.
The Cottagers opened the scoring on 32 minutes when Kenny Tete’s brilliant cross from the right found Aleksandar Mitrovic in the far post where he beat Trent Alexander-Arnold in the air and headed the ball to the back of Alisson’s net.
The Reds lacked their lethal edge from last season but saw Luiz Diaz hit the post from a tight angle on the left after 39 minutes.
Neeskens Kebano almost doubled the West Londoners’ lead on 57 minutes when his effort from the right hit Alisson’s right-hand post.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp brought Darwin Nunez on in the second half and he scored his first ever Premier League goal on his debut in the 64th minute thanks to a stunning back-heel after an assist by Mohamed Salah.
But Fulham regained the lead thanks to a penalty from Mitrovic after 72 minutes as he was brought down by Virgil van Dijk inside the area.
However, Salah resued a point for the visitors on 80 minutes when he was set up in front of Marek Rodak by Nunez.
Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson almost scored the winner on stoppage time when his long-range curling effort rattled Rodak’s crossbar
Credit: GETTY Credit: GETTY FT: Fulham 2-2 Liverpool
Peep!
That’s full-time at Fulham!!!
Fulham 2-2 Liverpool
90+4 What a chance!
Henderson delivers a stunning curling shot from distance and rattles Rodak’s crossbar!
What a shot!!!
Fulham 2-2 Liverpool
90+4 Substitution
Fulham manager Silva hands Duffy his debut as he replaces Reid
Fulham 2-2 Liverpool
90+2 Mitrovic is down with an issue.
But thankfully he gets back up as he chases a hat-trick
Fulham 2-2 Liverpool
90 Yellow card
Reid gets booked following a scuffle with Robertson.
Five more minutes of stoppage time to go!
Fulham 2-2 Liverpool
89 Substitution
Fulham manager Silva throws in Cairney for Pereira in the last few minutes of the match
Fulham 2-2 Liverpool
88 Neither side has convinced they can pick up the winner so far.
But Liverpool are pressing!
Fulham 2-2 Liverpool
85 Liverpool are dominating possession and tempo in the final few minutes.
Elliott has given the Reds an edge in midfield ever since his introduction
Fulham 2-2 Liverpool
83 Plenty of time for a winner!
Can Fulham hold on? Or will Liverpool get back on track?
Fulham 2-2 Liverpool
80 What a match!
Alexander-Arnold finds Salah with a wonderful ball and a deflection reaches Nunez who sets the star forward from close distance!
This is Salah’s 158th goal for Liverpool, he is now level with Owen!
Credit: GETTY Fulham 2-2 Liverpool
81 Goal!
Liverpool equalise with Salah!!!
Fulham 2-1 Liverpool
80 Chance
Carvalho gets the ball on the far post following a corner from right but sends it wide over Rodak’s goalpost
Fulham 2-1 Liverpool
78 Substitution
Liverpool manager Klopp hands out a Premier League debut to former Fulham starlet Carvalho, who replaces Diaz.
The Cottagers give the youngster a warm applause
Fulham 2-1 Liverpool
77 Chance!
Nunez gets the ball down the right and targets Rodak’s bottom right corner but sends it wide
Fulham 2-1 Liverpool
75 What a performance by Fulham!
Liverpool are back trying to avoid the worst
Fulham 2-1 Liverpool
72 Mitrovic takes on the penalty and sends it to Alisson’s bottom left corner.
The Liverpool keeper falls down the correct angle but just misses the ball
Credit: GETTY Fulham 2-1 Liverpool
72 Goal!
Mitrovic puts Fulham back in the lead!!!
Fulham 1-1 Liverpool
71 Penalty for Fulham!!!
Mitrovic gets in the area and expertly dribbles past Van Dijk who appears to knock him down with his knee.
Penalty confirmed by VAR!!!
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
