Liverpool’s new-look attack may have cost a fortune, but there was precious little evidence of it against Fulham as the Reds stumbled to a disappointing 0-0 draw at Anfield on Saturday afternoon.
After the encouraging Champions League victory over Atletico Madrid in midweek, this felt like a step backwards for Andoni Iraola’s side. Fulham arrived having lost their opening three Premier League games, yet for long periods they looked the more composed and dangerous of the two sides.
The Reds started with Bradley Barcola, Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak in an promising-looking attack, but the pieces simply didn’t fit together.
There was a lack of tempo and movement throughout the first half, with Liverpool struggling to move the ball quickly enough to disrupt Fulham’s well-organised defence.
Victor Munoz provided the closest thing to a breakthrough when his header from a Dominik Szoboszlai corner forced an excellent save from Bernd Leno. Otherwise, clear opportunities were scarce.
In fact, Liverpool could easily have gone into the interval behind when a dreadful Alisson pass created Fulham’s best opening, with Gonzalo Garcia eventually seeing his effort blocked superbly by Jeremy Jacquet on the goal line. Jacquet was one of the few Liverpool players who could emerge from the afternoon with his reputation enhanced, producing another important intervention shortly afterwards.
Iraola attempted to inject some life into his team after the break. Milos Kerkez replaced Kostas Tsimikas at half-time, while Cody Gakpo and Alexis Mac Allister were introduced on the hour in the hope of increasing the tempo.
There was a little more urgency, but not enough quality.
Fulham remained comfortable for the most part and continued to threaten on the counter, with Alisson having to make a good save from Josh King.
Liverpool eventually finished with 14 attempts but only three on target, stats which summed up an afternoon of possession without enough penetration.
Fatigue after Wednesday’s European game may have played a part, something Iraola acknowledged afterwards, but that can’t completely excuse such a flat performance at home against a side who arrived without a point so far in the campaign.
Three draws from the opening four Premier League matches is hardly disastrous, particularly while a new manager and several new players are settling in.
But Liverpool have assembled an attack packed with quality and spent heavily to strengthen this squad. At some point, patience has to turn into performances.
Against Fulham, Liverpool looked less like a team still finding its rhythm and more like one that had temporarily forgotten where the rhythm was supposed to come from. Things need to improve… quickly.
