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Absent day problems need to change
The Premier League summit poster had been shown to Liverpool before kick-off.
After Crystal Palace managed to salvage a point at home to Tottenham earlier in the day, the champions knew what they had to do.
Three points at Craven Cottage and the Premier League table would have something close to what the champions will feel like a natural look.
But while the task seemed simple on paper, Liverpool did not follow suit.
Instead, they delivered a performance that, for a long time, was as poor as any it had ever had before this quarter.
If the now infamous 7-2 loss at Aston Villa in October will be known as a perverse and monstrous anomaly, then this was as desperate as it has been for some time in the Premier League.
At least for 70 minutes or so.
The champions, perhaps worn down by what has been an excess of matches in recent weeks, did not shine. Not even a flash.
Passing was sloppy, ideas were scarce, and the 2,000 Fulham fans at Craven Cottage seemed to baffle the visitors.
For the first time since late February, when Watford beat Liverpool 3-0, the Reds were forced to deal with hostility from the opposition from the stands in the Premier League.
Maybe that caught the Reds off guard, but it’s something they’ll have to adjust to in the coming months.
Just seven points out of a possible 18 on the road shows where and what needs improvement for Klopp’s men.
Ties at Everton and Manchester City are not very unpleasant results, but two points at Brighton and Fulham have prevented Liverpool from opening a considerable gap at the top.
Get it right and a virtually flawless Anfield record will keep them on track in their efforts to retain the title.
Front three to rediscover the threat?
If it weren’t for bad luck, Jurgen Klopp wouldn’t have any this season.
At least not on the injury front.
This week alone, the Liverpool manager has lost four players to varying degrees.
For the umpteenth time this season, Klopp was forced to deliver the final setback to one of his key men, before the game.
This time, it was Diogo Jota, whose name was passed along with a grim and fringe diagnosis.
A knee injury sustained at Midtjylland on Wednesday means the Portugal international won’t be able to make a forceful impact until February.
And think of the club’s medical team, whose constant passing on bad news is probably no easier to convey to an exasperated Liverpool manager.
Anyway, how many stairs did Klopp go through before the season started?
* Who was your Liverpool MOTM against Fulham? Give us your opinion HERE.
But while it might be easy to point out the litany of players on the shelf, champions simply can’t afford to wallow.
No, despite losing to the nine-goal Jota, a player who has become one of the signings of the summer, Liverpool’s old guard must dust itself off and show why it remains a front line to be reckoned with.
Starting with Sadio Mane, whose eight-game goalless streak is the longest of his career with the Reds to date.
And Roberto Firmino, whose indifferent manner in every way only highlights a miserable comeback of just two this season.
With Jota out for the foreseeable, now is the time to rediscover that brilliance that makes Liverpool’s attack rightly feared throughout football.
There’s no better time to do it than against Tottenham on Wednesday night.
Salah a great modern
In the highlight of Liverpool’s career to be Mohamed Salah, this performance will not appear.
Like virtually all of his teammates, the Egyptian found it difficult to go to West London.
An opportunity late in the first half nearly elicited a goal, but the Reds’ top scorer received little service for much of the afternoon at Craven Cottage.
But when the visitors were awarded a penalty in the 79th minute, Salah made sure not to disappoint.
With a swipe of his talented left boot, the forward scored a Liverpool draw that he barely deserved.
* Who was Liverpool’s footballer of the year? Cast your vote HERE.
His 13th of the season was unfortunate for Fulham, but it left him four ahead of the Reds’ next best scorer in the now-marginalized Diogo Jota.
The goal also had some significance in the larger context of the Premier League.
His 85th goal in English football takes him away from the great Cristiano Ronaldo and the account he accumulated during his six years at Manchester United.
In the same week that he surpassed Steven Gerrard as Liverpool’s all-time top scorer in the Champions League, this goal was another subtle reminder of the rarefied air Salah continues to breathe.
Even if his appearance on the season finale DVD will be brief.
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