Match Preview
Fulham vrs Liverpool
Premiership Match Day 01 22/23 at Craven Cottage
Saturday 6th August 2022 KO: 12:30
Referee:
Andy Madley (West Yorkshire)
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Fulham will kick off the Premier League season against Liverpool at Craven Cottage on Saturday.
The Cottagers are aiming to avoid a swift demotion back down to the second tier while Jurgen Klopp's men were forced to accept second best again last season.
Proving that they no longer hold the label of a yo-yo team will be the ultimate goal for Fulham and Marco Silva this summer, with the Cottagers determined to make their latest Premier League journey last longer than 12 months.
With 90 points and 106 goals - 43 of which came from Aleksandar Mitrovic - to boast from the 2021-22 Championship season, Fulham blew the competition out of the water to return to the big time, although winning just two of their final seven matches took some gloss off of their trophy.
Bringing in Joao Palhinha from Sporting Lisbon was an impressive coup indeed - the pull of the Premier League played its role to the maximum in that one - and Silva has also welcomed Manor Solomon, Kevin Mbabu, Bernd Leno and Andreas Pereira to Craven Cottage this summer.
Beating Nice and Estoril and holding Villarreal to a score draw in pre-season has set Fulham up well to try to secure survival this time around, although Benfica put five past them in pre-season, and they have lost all five of their opening-day top-flight encounters the season after their promotion.
During their abysmal end to a doomed 2020-21 season, Fulham failed to pick up any victories in their final 10 games of the campaign - losing eight and drawing two - but Liverpool fans will not want to hear who their most recent Premier League victory came against.
Completing the FA Cup and EFL Cup double is nothing to be sniffed at, but for a good chunk of the 2021-22 season, Liverpool seemed capable of turning the unprecedented quadruple dream into a reality before Real Madrid and Manchester City did the business.
Failing to add another Champions League or Premier League trophy to their brimming Anfield cabinet did dampen the mood slightly, especially seeing as Reds legend Steven Gerrard threatened the shock of all final-day shocks with his Aston Villa side against Man City before Pep Guardiola's side came storming back.
Liverpool have already kicked off their 2022-23 season with a much-deserved win over the reigning champions in the Community Shield and have also secured a number of victories off the field, winning the race to sign Darwin Nunez and finally convincing Mohamed Salah to put pen to paper on a new deal until 2025.
Red Bull Salzburg, Manchester United and Strasbourg all got one over Liverpool in pre-season, but Klopp was not averse to sending out teams made up of second-string and youth players over the summer, and their unbeaten Premier League run now stands at 19 games.
As previously hinted at, Fulham's most recent Premier League win was a 1-0 success over Liverpool at Anfield in 2021, and they also held the Reds to a draw at Craven Cottage that same year, but Liverpool are going in search of their fifth opening-day win with at least three goals scored in succession this weekend.
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Fulham were unbeaten in both Premier League games against Liverpool in 2020-21, drawing 1-1 at home and winning 1-0 at Anfield.
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The Cottagers have won just one of their last six Premier League home games against Liverpool (D1, L4), a 1-0 victory in December 2011.
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Fulham scored 106 league goals on their way to winning the Championship title in 2021-22.
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Each of their last three Premier League campaigns have ended in relegation - 2013-14, 2018-19 and 2020-21.
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The Cottagers have lost their first league match of the season directly after promotion to the top flight on the last five occasions.
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Fulham are winless in their last 10 Premier League games (D2, L8), but their last top-flight victory came against Liverpool in March 2021.
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Fulham can equal the club's top-flight record of seven consecutive home defeats, set between November 1961 and February 1962.
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Liverpool finished second in the last season's top flight, scoring 94 goals, their second-highest total in the Premier League.
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They are unbeaten in their last 19 Premier League games (W16, D3), a run stretching back to last December.
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The Reds have won their past three Premier League matches, despite conceding the opening goal within the first 15 minutes each time - only Arsenal in March 2012 have ever won four consecutive Premier League games after coming from behind.
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Liverpool have won their first Premier League match in each of the last four seasons, scoring at least three goals on each occasion.
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Mohamed Salah has scored in Liverpool's opening Premier League game in each of his five seasons with the club.
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