Liverpool v Fulham

Liverpool and Fulham meet at Anfield this 1st of May. Kick-off is at 19:45 GMT.

Teams News

Liverpool

A midweek tie to play their game in hand means that Liverpool are going to play two games in three days; the first one is against Norwich over the weekend, with Fulham visiting Anfield on Tuesday. Regardless of the Norwich result, Kenny Dalglish and his Reds will look to stifle their opponents come May 1st – this is because losing games could mean a drop from the top ten. Fulham are trailing the team from Merseyside closely too, and this will add the pressure on their hosts to secure points.

Lucas Leiva and Charlie Adam are still out, with Steven Gerrard set to play the remaining fixtures. King Kenny will look to finish the season strong even if requires him to turn to his experienced albeit ageing players. So Gerrard, Craig Bellamy, Maxi Rodriguez and Dirk Kuyt might just find a longer time on the field than on the bench.

The case however may be different for his forwards. The youthful exuberance of Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll may not reek of experience but they do have 12 goals and 9 assists between them. These, arguably, have kept Liverpool alive in the season.

Fulham

Like Liverpool, Fulham also have two games in three days. The first one will be against the Blue side of Merseyside, Everton. Two games straight, away, and against Merseyside giants is a tough fixture definitely, and it remains to be seen how Martin Jol will rotate his players without sacrificing match quality.

Against Liverpool changes to the line-up could be abounding – Fulham have at least four players sidelined with injuries – and so Jol will be hoping that this number does not increase after the game against Everton. The only player looking untouchable in the Cottager’s line-up at the moment is Clint Dempsey. The American’s stellar performance this season has seen him rake in 16 goals and 6 assists since day one.

Moussa Dembélé has offered the goods as well alongside Dempsey. The Belgian midfielder may not have the stats to show but four Man-of-the-Match accolades this season underlines his inspiration role in that Fulham midfield.

Liverpool v Fulham Betting Preview

Traveling to Anfield will be a daunting task for Fulham. In the last six meetings, Fulham has never won a game against Liverpool at Anfield – in the last five of those six, Fulham has never scored a single goal. The last time they scored a goal at Anfield? March 2006, a game they lost 5-1.

Fortunately for Fulham, only history is the factor that is against them. They are way better in terms of current form, and for a Liverpool side currently struggling, this could be the perfect moment to change the bitter trend of the past.

Betting Tip

Verdict: Fancy a draw. 2-2.

Tip: Fulham are suited to win this game with a 4/1 odds via Bet365. While a draw is less gratifying of a punt at 3/1, a 2-2 correct score punt is set at 16/1. Remember that both teams have potent goal-scorers so this score-line is not to be ignored at all.

Having mentioned potent goal-scorers, Pavel Pogrebnyak and Clint Dempsey at 12/5 to score anytime – again, not that rewarding but still better than a Steven Gerrard tip to score anytime at 7/4.

All odds are from Bet365.com (£200 FREE BET!).