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Fulham is chasing Newcastle and their goal of survival in the Premier League. Three weeks ago, the gap between those two teams was 10 points. It is now three o’clock.
They have Newcastle looking over their shoulders. Scott Parker’s team has made it through all of 2021 in the last three, but their confident performances belie their position. Since mid-December, only Manchester City have conceded fewer goals than Fulham.
Joachim Andersen is a reassuring influence alongside his central colleague Tosin Adarabioyo. It is the Fulham equivalent of Ruben Dias.
You’ll have a hard time finding a defender who can hit precise diagonal balls, as well as Andersen, a 24-year-old loan player. Ademola Lookman benefited from one of her long passes and rakes to secure a great victory against Sheffield United.
That’s a great weapon and one that could hurt Liverpool and their high line on Sunday.
It’s okay to keep a high line, but you need to know when to go down if there is no pressure on the player making the forward pass.
Liverpool, by using unskilled central defenders, have been surprised by that several times this season in one-on-one situations, with Mason Mount securing victory for Chelsea in that way at Anfield on Thursday night.
Fulham lost 1-0 to Tottenham that same night and the goal they conceded highlighted a possible weakness.
As highlighted in this column earlier, Harry Kane was falling deep. Fulham had a clear plan for this, whereby one of the centrals would go down with him.
The problem was that it left the remaining defenders exposed to the direct run of Dele Alli, who was behind the Spurs winner.
Like Kane, Roberto Firmino can fall deeply at Anfield, and Fulham’s defenders will have to think twice before leaving the baseline again. If they do what they did on Thursday, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah could clean up.
Fulham do not play like a team that has been among the last three in the Premier League for months. They stick to Parker’s plan. It is not frenzied football, it is patient play.
With the ball, Fulham leaves Andersen and Adarabioyo at home, while midfielder Harrison Reed will fall deep alongside them or sit up front as an option to receive the ball. Both full backs are then set high and wide. On the left back Antonee Robinson, they have a very determined runner and a great ball carrier.
The Fulham forward is inventive enough to upset Liverpool on Sunday, and they’ll be keeping an eye out for those Andersen balls.
I like Lookman’s outspokenness and his change of pace, which can be devastating for defenders. Ivan Cavaleiro is a tough customer when he attacks you, and Josh Maja joins in well and was unlucky not to get his first goal at Craven Cottage on Thursday.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek has a freer role, operating between the lines and gaining space behind the rival midfield.
Aleksandar Mitrovic is becoming Parker’s replacement in the 70th minute when it comes time to get the ball into the box.
This team has gone through a real transformation. Only two XI players who faced Tottenham on Thursday started their first game of the season against Arsenal: Reed and Cavaleiro.
There is a unique spirit between Fulham and its army of borrowers. Parker has each and every one of them fighting for him and the club, even though they don’t technically belong to them. I’m not looking at any of these players and I don’t think they belong in the Premier League. They will be hungry to inflict a sixth straight home loss to Liverpool tomorrow.
When that invincibility wears off, everyone thinks they can beat it. Liverpool did not lose in the Premier League at Anfield for three years. Now they can’t stop losing.
There are five at the trot and that will cheer Fulham on. It can be difficult when you know that you cannot be champions. I’ve been on an Arsenal team that struggled once they got home and we wouldn’t retain the title.
When does someone want to play for second place? But if you don’t refocus and restart, you’ll soon find yourself sliding further and further down the table.
That is what Liverpool must do now. They need to come together and set new goals. That has to be a top four result. If Liverpool don’t win tomorrow, that will continue to slip away.
Parker used to play for Newcastle. He understands the size of that club and the enormity of the pressure those players will be under.
Such has been the quality of his play, it does not seem that the Fulham players have even seen his precarious position in the table.
But if they get nothing out of this trip to Anfield, it will be hard not to search with only 10 games to go.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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