🏏 Sat, 12 Sep 2026 15:00 BST
Liverpool FC
vs
Fulham FC
4-2-3-1 vs 4-2-3-1
Substitutes
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Match Preview
- Sixth against nineteenth: Liverpool are unbeaten on five points from a win and two draws with a goal difference of plus two, while Fulham are still without a point after three straight defeats. Manchester City already lead on nine, so Liverpool can ill afford to drop more points at home, and Fulham arrive level on zero with bottom club Coventry, looking for their first return of the season.
- Liverpool drew 2-2 away at Newcastle and 2-2 at home to Nottingham Forest before finally breaking through on matchday three, winning 2-0 at Ipswich with a clean sheet. Fulham have lost all three by fine margins: 3-2 at home to Chelsea, 1-0 away at Sunderland and 3-2 at home to Crystal Palace. Seven goals conceded in three matches is the number they have to fix first.
- Both teams set up in a 4-2-3-1, so the opening battle is between the two double pivots. Liverpool pair the 190cm Ryan Gravenberch with Hungary captain Dominik Szoboszlai; Fulham answer with the 195cm Sander Berge and 22-year-old Northern Ireland international Shea Charles, a Manchester City academy product. All four are tall midfielders comfortable carrying the ball, and second-ball recovery in that zone should shape the rhythm of the match.
- Florian Wirtz operates in the number 10 role at 23. The Germany international drove Bayer Leverkusen's unbeaten Bundesliga title campaign and his control in tight areas and final-ball accuracy are close to the best in the league. How often he can receive facing forward between Berge and Charles will largely determine whether Liverpool can break Fulham down or end up circulating possession in front of them.
- There is a Leverkusen thread running through both squads. Beyond Wirtz, Liverpool have Jeremie Frimpong on the bench, the attacking right-back who was part of that same invincible side. In the Fulham goal stands Bernd Leno, 34, who also came through at Leverkusen before spending years in the Premier League with Arsenal — his reflex shot-stopping now has to stand up to two men who came out of that same club.
- Alexander Isak leads the Liverpool line, the 192cm Sweden international signed from Newcastle for a record English transfer fee and unusually comfortable dribbling past defenders for a man of his size. Fulham meet him with Calvin Bassey, the left-footed centre-back voted the club's player of the season in 2024-25 after spells at Ajax and Rangers, and 25-year-old David Affengruber, an Austrian title winner with both Salzburg and Sturm Graz.
- The one-v-ones out wide are worth the price of admission. Bradley Barcola, 24, brings explosive acceleration honed at Lyon and Paris Saint-Germain down the left against Belgium right-back Timothy Castagne, an FA Cup winner with Leicester at 30. On the other flank, 23-year-old Victor Munoz — a Real Madrid academy graduate who earned his stripes at Osasuna — faces Antonee Robinson, the USA left-back whose pace and interception numbers rank among the best in the division.
- Fulham's threat runs through a Norwegian axis. Oscar Bobb, 23, joined permanently from Manchester City for £27m in January 2026 and cuts in dangerously off his left foot, with Berge anchoring behind him. Up front is Gonzalo Garcia, the 22-year-old who matched Real Madrid Castilla's record of 25 goals in a season, supported by Arsenal academy graduate Alex Iwobi and 19-year-old Josh King, a Fulham youth product who made his Premier League debut at 17.
- Liverpool's back line mixes experience with youth. Virgil van Dijk, the 35-year-old captain at 195cm, partners Jeremy Jacquet, a 21-year-old France youth international who came through Rennes and got his grounding on loan at Clermont in Ligue 2. Ronald Araujo, the 191cm Uruguayan signed from Barcelona, lines up alongside them, with Kostas Tsimikas at left-back and Brazil's Alisson Becker behind.
- Both benches carry weight. Liverpool can call on Japan captain Wataru Endo, the 33-year-old holding midfielder who was crowned the Bundesliga's duel king at Stuttgart and offers control alongside Gravenberch when a lead needs protecting, plus 2022 World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister, the 193cm Cody Gakpo and 18-year-old Rio Ngumoha, who scored on Premier League duty as a teenager. Fulham still hold Emile Smith Rowe, club-record signing Kevin from Shakhtar Donetsk and Brazilian striker Rodrigo Muniz in reserve.