It is Matchday and the Reds are officially back! Jurgen Klopp and his boys have been tipped by various figures to win the Premier League trophy this season and their quest starts today.
Liverpool kick off against Fulham at 12:30 UK time in the Craven Cottage Stadium. Recently promoted Fulham will look to avoid relegation and secure a spot in the league next season. It will be quite a tussle between the two, but Klopp’s side is expected to come out on top.
Here we go with some stats and facts:
• The Reds will become the first team in PL history to face a promoted side on the opening day in four successive seasons, after meeting Norwich City in 2019, Leeds United the following year, and Norwich again last term.
• In the Premier League, Liverpool have won 18, drawn five and lost seven of their 30 previous meetings with the Cottagers.
• Mohamed Salah goes into this game having previously scored seven opening-day goals. Only Alan Shearer, Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard (each with eight) have netted more in the Premier League era. Jamie Vardy also has seven.
• In the Premier League, Liverpool have won 18, drawn five and lost seven of their 30 previous meetings with the Cottagers.
• Jürgen Klopp’s team have won five and drawn one of their last six opening-day fixtures, scoring 22 goals and never in that sequence finding the net fewer than three times.
Liverpool are unbeaten in their last 19 Premier League games (W16, D3), a run stretching back to last December.
Fulham had 90 points and 106 goals (43 of which came from Aleksandar Mitrovic) to boast from the 2021-22 Championship season. They completely grabbed hold of the competition to the big league, although winning just two of their final seven matches took some gloss off of their trophy.
Jurgen Klopp will go into the match without a handful of players. Curtis Jones, Diogo Jota, Kostas Tsimikas, Oxlade Chamberlain and Ibrahima Konate are all sidelined due to injury. This will leave the coach with the option to go with his frequent 4-3-3 squad.
Here us the predicted XI for both teams
FULHAM
Goalkeeper: Leno
Defenders: Mbabu, Adarabioyo, Ream, Robinson
Midfielders: Palhinha, Reed, Reid, Pereira, Kebano
Striker: Mitrovic
LIVERPOOL
Goalkeeper: Allison
Defenders: Robertson, Van Dijk, Matip, Alexander-Arnold
Midfielders: Fabinho, Henderson, Thiago
Strikers: Luis Diaz, Firmino, Salah
FINAL SCORE PREDICTION
Fulham 1-4 Liverpool
Fulham may have made some eye-catching additions this summer, but Silva’s side are still prone to showing lacklustre defending, and a full-strength Liverpool need no second invitation to take advantage.
Klopp has far more injuries to contend with than he would have liked at this point of the season, but we cannot see past a routine win for the title hopefuls on the opening day
Follow the match on twitter using #FULLIV
