Fulham returned to glory, a familiar figure once again in the Premier League. This is the fourth time in the team's history that they have stepped onto the top flight stage and, like the debut, both came to prominence as second division champions. However, compared to the glorious journey from 2001/02 to 2013/14, this team has been caught in a vicious cycle of relegation and relegation since the 2017/18 season, and the honor of winning the Premier League Play-Offs twice could not allow them to escape relegation.
In the 2020/21 season, Fulham's defensive performance was better than the 2018/19 season, but the attacking end of the field looked out of sorts. Despite being relegated three rounds early that season along with West Bromwich Albion, Fulham were able to draw 1-1 at home and lose 0-1 on the road against Liverpool, showing resilience against a strong team - and that was against the backdrop of Liverpool being mired in a run of six straight home defeats.
However, in a slight departure from today's line-up, then head coach Scott Parker has moved to Bournemouth and has led the team to a successful promotion, in a very different style to the current Marco Silva.
It's worth noting that from the time he coached Everton to a 5-2 drubbing as visitors to Liverpool in the 2019/20 season to the opening game of the season, Marco Silva's two encounters with Liverpool have been separated by 976 days, making it the fourth-longest in the history of the Premier League. Only three further meetings in Premier League history have come later than Silva's, with Kevin Keegan facing Ritz United again after 2,054 days (1997~2002) and Bolton after 1,048 days, and Alan Pardew facing Liverpool after 1,308 days (2007~2010).
Last season, Liverpool were flying high on all four fronts, losing only 4 matches in the regular season, but only winning the League Cup and the FA Cup, while finishing second in the Premier League and the Champions League, which was glorious in a sorry way. However, with the FA Cup, Liverpool were able to play in the Community Shield and beat Manchester City 3-1, and Jürgen Klopp finally collected all the highest honors the Reds could get.
This summer saw Liverpool continue their active winter transfer window, with the signing of Darwin Nunez filling the void left by the inability to keep Sadio Mane, the transfer process for Fabio Carvalho going smoothly, and a number of young players being sent down to the lower leagues for training. Sadly, youth graduate Neko Williams opted to join another promoted side, Nottingham Forest, after helping Fulham to promotion and completing his loan spell.
The two teams have played for each other in the past, so it's a case of 'you're in me, I'm in you'. Since the 2017/18 season, Liverpool in a 3-3 draw with Watford, has been four consecutive seasons in the opening game against the Championship champions (4-1 Norwich City at home, 4-3 Ritz United at home, 0-3 Norwich away) and won three consecutive victories; while Fulham in the first five matches were all lost (in addition to the first three times the promotion of the Premier League, and the seasons of 1949/50 and 1959/60), so both sides are full of confidence before the match, Liverpool to open the road to the championship with a red, while many players have played for each other. So both sides are full of confidence ahead of the game, with Liverpool looking to start their title bid with a win and Fulham certainly not wanting to drop back into the Championship.
Fulham lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation:
Goalkeeper: Marek Rodak
Linebackers: Kenny Tate, Tosin Adarabiyo, Tim Ryan, Anthony Robinson
Back: Harrison Reed, Joao Palhaena
Attacking midfielder: Andreas Pereira
Edge: Nisei Kebano, Bobby Reid
Center: Aleksandar Mitrovic
Liverpool remain in a 4-3-3 formation, starting exactly the same as they did against Manchester City in the Community Shield this time round, except for the return of the starting goalkeeper:
Forwards: Luis Diaz, Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah
Midfielders: Thiago Alcantara, Fabinho, Jordan Henderson
Backs: Andrew Robertson, Virgil Van Dijk, Joel Matip, Trent Alexander-Arnold
Goalkeeper: Alisson Becker
Fulham, who were playing at home with a lot of momentum, had a lot of possession throughout the game with Liverpool's signature high press, but were a bit passive on the attacking end of the field with Liverpool's injured and out of form players.
In the first minute, a TAA pass was intercepted and Aleksandar Mitrovic got the ball and fired a one-touch shot wide.
Although Fulham missed the chance to get the first goal super fast, the game was under Fulham's control after that. On the other hand, Liverpool's whole team was like a sleepwalker, although the possession rate was quite high, but under Fulham's tight defense, they couldn't organize a decent attack at all, and were also made to feel anxious by Fulham's counterattacks.
In the 15th minute, Luis Díaz was ruled offside on a goal kick.
Kenny Tate received a yellow card in the 17th minute.
Fulham finally put together a chance up front in the 32nd minute when Kenny Tete broke down the right and crossed for Aleksandar Mitrovic to put his burly body over TAA and head past Alisson Becker to give Fulham a 1-0 lead.
Having massacred the Championship with a record number of goals last season, Aleksandar Mitrovic is seen as the key to Fulham's ability to stand up to the Premier League this season. Under the careful tutelage of Marco Silva, the winger is now no longer a Wunderkind.
