Fulham vs Liverpool. Prediction and Preview. Probable Lineups, Team News, Stats, and more

Fulham FC will host Liverpool FC in the English Football League Cup semi final match at the Craven Cottage Stadium. The fixture will take place on Thursday, January 25, beginning at 01:30 IST.

Parimatch News will tell you everything you need to know ahead of the upcoming match.

Fulham News & Current Form: 

Fulham are having a typical season by their standards. Despite a very decent squad, the Londoners perform mediocre in the Premier League every year, and therefore they often struggle for survival in the elite English division. In the current edition of the tournament, they are far from that, sitting in 13th place in the standings, with the relegation zone nine points behind them. 

Fulham played their 21st round match almost immediately after the first leg of the semi-final, losing 0:1 to Chelsea FC back on the 13th of January. The only goal of the match was scored in the penalty shootout by Cole Palmer, which was earned by Raheem Sterling. 

It is worth noting that Chelsea defender Malo Gusto played roughly with one foot against Willian in the first half, and referee Anthony Taylor should have sent off him for such a foul. But a replay review by the VAR system resulted in Gusto receiving only a yellow card. According to coach Marco Silva, in 9 out of 10 cases, a red card would have been shown for such a foul, not a yellow card. And in his opinion, the referees who worked with the VAR system made a mistake. 

His vis-a-vis Mauricio Pochettino also agreed with the assessment: according to the coach of the Blues, his team played below their capabilities in the first half, although they scored a goal from the penalty spot, and in the second half they played another 30 minutes of good football and had chances to score more and more.

By the way, in the championship the Cottagers now have four defeats in the last five rounds, and the only victory they sensationally gained on New Year’s Eve over Arsenal FC (2:1). But before that, the team defeated West Ham United FC and Nottingham Forest FC by identical 5:0 scores at their home stadium.

Otherwise, the picture for them, of course, is quite sad, especially since for these four lost matches the team has not yet scored a single goal – even to such rivals as Burnley FC and AFC Bournemouth. 

As for the cups, the Black and Whites have already made it to the 1/16 finals of the Emirates FA Cup, having beaten Rotherham United FC 1:0 in the last round. As for the League Cup, Marco Silva’s wards had a 1:2 defeat to Liverpool in the first match. 

Fulham took a long lead at Anfield thanks to a goal from Willian, but eventually Darwin Nunez, who came on as a second-half substitute, made two assists and Cody Gakpo, who came on at the same time, scored the winning goal. 

If Fulham can equalize on the counter-attack, they will have some chance of qualifying for the final. An unpleasant fact for Fulham fans: only 25% of the teams that were defeated in the first semi-final match of the League Cup went through to the final round. 

Top scorer of Fulham FC – Willian

On the way to this stage of competition, they knocked out Tottenham Hotspur FC, one of the leaders of the Championship Ipswich Town FC, and in the quarter-finals in a penalty shootout defeated Everton FC, which is now on the verge of relegation, unlike Fulham. 

Back in early December, the upcoming opponents played each other in the EPL, and then the Merseysideiders took the upper hand with a score of 4:3, scoring the last goals in the 87th and 88th minutes.

Winger Adama Traore is absent from the home team’s squad – he is injured. In addition, Calvin Bassey, Alex Iwobi and Fode Ballo-Toure are currently at the Africa Cup of Nations with their national teams. Captain Tim Ream, on the other hand, returned to the general squad for the last round of the EPL, although he did not appear on the pitch. 

Mexican Raul Jimenez (5 goals) is gradually regaining his former form and is expected to be back in the starting line-up on Wednesday. He will be supported by the creative Willian and Andreas Pereira on the flanks, while Portugal’s Joao Palinha conducts the capital’s midfield, Harrison Reed will be responsible for reliability in the backline. 

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Liverpool News & Current Form: 

The Reds disappointed their fans last season, but now the visitors are at the top of the Premier League table with a game in hand and a 5-point lead over their nearest rival. The team of Jurgen Klopp has not lost any of the last 14 matches in the national championship (9 wins and 5 draws). 

Moreover, Liverpool have won all their last three matches: against Burnley (0:2), Newcastle United FC (4:2) and Bournemouth last weekend (0:4). Although the scoreline was nil in the first half, Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota each scored a double in the second half, with Jota also scoring an assist on Nunez’s first goal. 

The Reds have scored at least a couple of goals in each of their last five victories, and since Christmas the visitors have been successful in three consecutive away games without conceding once. 

It should be noted that now the Reds have a tough stretch of the calendar: already on the 28th of January they will play Norwich City FC in the FA Cup, and on the 31st of January they will play an EPL match with Chelsea. Given that the game with Bournemouth was on the 21st, that makes four matches in 11 days. 

Diogo Jota scored a double in the Premier League fixture against Bournemouth

It is worth noting that Liverpool are performing brilliantly in all competitions in which they take part. In the UEFA Europa League, they have already made the play-offs. In the FA Cup they reached the 1/16 finals, defeating Arsenal (2:0) in the last round.

In the League Cup, Jurgen Klopp’s wards are close to reaching the final as they defeated Fulham 2:1 in the first semi-final clash. In the previous rounds, the Merseysideiders knocked Leicester City FC ( 3:1), Bournemouth (1:2) and West Ham (5:1) out of the tournament.  Last time the Reds played in the final of the English League Cup was in 2022, and then they managed to win the trophy, defeating Chelsea on penalties. 

Liverpool’s squad this week will be weakened by several important losses. Laterals Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andrew Robertson and Konstantinos Tsimikas, the experienced Joel Matip, Thiago Alcantara and youngster Stefan Bajcetic remain unavailable through injury.

In addition, Hungarian midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai remains questionable, Mo Salah is out of action for at least two matches due to a hamstring strain while playing for Egypt at the African Cup of Nations, and Japanese midfielder Wataru Endo is out for the Asian Cup. 

Given these personnel problems, Diogo Jota (7 goals and 2 assists) and Darwin Nunez (7 goals and 6 assists) will be back in attack, with Luis Diaz (3 goals) and Cody Gakpo (3 goals) supporting them on the flanks. Curtis Jones, the hero of the first match against Fulham, will remain on the bench, while Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis McAllister play in the starting 11. 

Fulham form guide: L-L-W-W-L-L

Liverpool form guide: D-W-W-W-W

Fulham vs Liverpool Head-To-Head Record:

• May 3, 2023: Liverpool 1 – 0 Fulham (Premier League);
• December 3, 2023: Liverpool 4 – 3 Fulham (Premier League);
• January 10, 2024: Liverpool 2 – 1 Fulham (League Cup).

Fulham vs Liverpool Predicted XI:

Fulham’s possible starting lineup (4-2-3-1): Leno; Castagne, Adarabioyo, Diop, Robinson; Palhinha, Reed; Decordova-Reid, Pereira, Willian; Jimenez.

Liverpool’s possible starting lineup (3-5-2): Alisson; Bradley, Konate, Van Dijk, Gomez; Elliott, Mac Allister, Gravenberch; Gakpo, Jota, Nunez.

Statistical preview of the match Fulham vs Liverpool:

• Fulham’s First XI average age is 29.5 years, Liverpool’s First XI average age is 25.5 years.
• The total value of Fulham’s squad is just 313 mln euros, while the total of Liverpool comes up to 874 mln euros.
• Simon Hooper has been appointed as the center referee. The referee has already served 17 games this season, showing an average of 5 Yellow Cards and also whistles 24 fouls per game. 
• Fulham serve 7.31 corners per game at home in the 2023/24 season, while Liverpool have 5.44.
• In Liverpool’s away games the yellow card total is quite high – 4.69. 
• Prior to the defeat in the first leg, the Londoners had not conceded in regulation time in four consecutive matches in this tournament (2 wins and 2 draws).
• Both teams had scored in 90 minutes in Fulham’s previous five games in the English League Cup.
• In Fulham’s last 14 away games in this tournament, only once has there been a draw in regular time (8 wins and 5 losses).
• Liverpool have a four-match winning streak in this tournament.
• The Reds have scored at least two goals in five previous matches in the English League Cup.
• On the road in this tournament Liverpool have only one defeat in the last six games in regular time (5 wins). 

What has been said before the match:

Gaffer of the Cottagers Marco Silva about the importance of fans in the upcoming game:

“My ambition is to always play cup competitions and go further. The first game in the Carabao Cup was poor last season. It was an important moment for us to talk about the approach in the future.”

“Normally we don’t plan ahead for the next two or three games, our focus has always been like that since I arrived here. It’s going to be so, so important for us. We are talking about a Semi-Final. A chance to play a Final, a chance to play at Wembley.”

“Fans are going to be crucial. They are going to play a big part. We need them always behind the team. We want to make Craven Cottage really difficult for Liverpool.”

Fulham vs Liverpool Prediction:

Fulham cannot be considered as an easy opponent for Liverpool. The teams have met twice this season, and both times the Londoners were close to victory, but the Merseysiders still were able to turn things around after the half-time break. That said, the confrontation between Fulham and Liverpool recently turned out to be spectacular and abundant in goals. In the previous four head-to-head meetings, the rivals have scored 15 goals together (3.75 per game on average) – a very solid figure in itself, with goals exchanged in 75% of meetings. 

In the upcoming game, a draw does not suit the Londoners, and therefore Marko Silva’s charges will attempt to be aggressive in the opening stages of the game, they will have to take risks and push forward in attack, after all, they need to make up the difference after the first semi-final. This will give the Reds carte blanche for lightning-quick vertical attacks towards Bernd Leno’s goal. Liverpool will definitely control the game, swapping the middle block for counter-pressing and so forth. The visitors still don’t have Mohamed Salah in the squad, but even without him they are capable of achieving success, the recent away fixture against Bournemouth (0:4) proved that the Merseysiders have everything in order with their offensive system. 

Parimatch News staff prediction:

We say: Liverpool will not lose and the match total will be over 1.5 – Yes.

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