Liverpool vs. Fulham: *Bumper* Post-Match Analysis

Paul Tomkins, Andrew Beasley, Daniel Rhodes and other TTT regulars will give their thoughts on the match for 24 hours after the game, so the article received via email is unlikely to be the final version. There's statistics from the match and videos too.

Post-Match Thoughts

Paul Tomkins

87 minutes. No way Liverpool are winning the league; 88 minutes, Liverpool are gonna bloody-well win the league!

Four of the best goals you'll ever see in terms of distance-striking, which was just as well as the Reds fluffed anything in the box.

It's a shame Trent Alexander-Arnold loses the free-kick to an OG off the keeper's back (and would that have been his first brace?), but the ball was not going in.

Still, he got his goal from his midfield berth to win the game, and the free-kick was a stunning effort all the same. With the Reds rattling the woodwork a few times lately, including Darwin Núñez thumping one that nearly broke the bar in two, it maybe needed that luck.

And you won't see a better distance-hit than Alexis Mac Allister's. Sometimes when you can't take your big chances you need to make things happen in other ways, and the Reds did just that.

That said, Liverpool defended poorly, Caoimhin Kelleher looked nervy after conceding four (from pretty much four shots) in his last league start, and the Reds had run out of ideas and energy (and picked up more injuries) when Fulham countered to make it 3-2.

It felt fairly shapeless with Joe Gomez as the playmaking no.6, and Cody Gakpo in midfield, and Luis Díaz perhaps hitting a wall after the insane emotional rollercoaster of a season (especially the last six weeks or so).

But on came Wataru Endo, and suddenly Gomez and Gakpo were making things happen.

What you expect from Endo – as he adjusts to the insane pace of the Premier League without compromising on his desire to win every tackle – is a second-touch that's a yellow card. You don't expect key curlers in the top corner.

You can say that the Reds defended too poorly to be taken seriously as title contenders, but the aim is to dig out a win, and until the slow period of play just before Fulham took the lead, you always felt Liverpool could make things happen. But once Mo Salah skied a near goal-line chance on the rebound, I was thinking that it was one of those days.

Another sign of a title-winning team is vital late goals, and the Reds got two today. Not that Liverpool are ready to dominate the league as they did in 2019/20, with the new midfielders adding a lot but still lacking full cohesion. But with the tough away games the Reds have played, and a 100% win record at Anfield, Jürgen Klopp's men are genuine contenders.

Anyway, I'll try and pick the bones out of that madness below, as will the Daniel and Beez.

The majority of my analysis and the analysis of the others follows for subscribers only.