Fulham – Liverpool : Preview & Prediction
The term “promotion team” is normally used ahead of a new season, but few teams reflect the meaning of this better than Fulham who return to the Premier League (PL) for the third time in five seasons. Surprisingly one of the bookmakers’ favourites to be relegated again, Fulham have lost their opening day fixture on the last five occasions they have returned to the top flight, which means those odds could drop after this opening day.
However, the Cottagers come into this campaign having come through last season’s Championship challenge unscathed, and they did not rest on their laurels, with manager Marco Silva adding the highly-rated João Palhinha and an old Manchester United acquaintance in Andreas Pereira to his ranks. That should help fill the void left by Fábio Carvalho in midfield, who departed against none other than today’s opponents Liverpool, but with Fulham avoiding defeat against the PL giants (G1, E1) in their final season in the top flight, they will believe anything is possible.
A historic campaign in 2021/22 saw Liverpool play every possible game on the calendar, winning two trophies while agonisingly missing out on a historic treble or quadruple. The question is how they will approach this new season, but with this being the fourth consecutive season they have played a newly-promoted team on the opening day – winning the last three by an aggregate score of 11-4 – a kick-off on the right foot is to be expected.
The Reds have also faced painful farewells, with Sadio Mané and Divock Origi leaving Anfield this summer. The latter saw his shirt number taken by Liverpool’s star signing Darwin Nunez, who scored on his official debut in the impressive 3-1 Community Shield win over Manchester United.
Players to watch: Aleksandr Mitrovic has never lost a PL game in which he scored at home (G8, E3), while Mohamed Salah will be hoping to extend his opening-day record, having scored in Liverpool’s first PL game in the last five seasons.
Weekend stat: Both teams have found the back of the net in six of Liverpool’s last seven PL visits to Craven Cottage.
Fulham – Liverpool : Betting Tips
OVER 3.5 GOALS Odds: 2.25
