Game Week 20 Predictions: Goals to rain at Craven Cottage

Premier League: Fulham vs Liverpool at Craven Cottage – goal-filled history, Fulham push top half sans AFCON stars, Ekitike key; verdict Liverpool win

Bank on it! Goals to rain at Fulham as Liverpool brings the fire to Craven Cottage. (Photo credit: GOAL)

 Fulham vs Liverpool

Craven Cottage

4:00pm

This is one fixture that serves us goals! If you’re ever in doubt, look back to fixtures involving Liverpool and Fulham; be it at Anfield or Craven Cottage, only one thing remains consistent: goals!

Fulham can win here to break into the top half of the table. A subdued start evolved into a series of narrow wins and gritty defending. Slowly and surely, Marco Silva is steering Fulham to greatness, which they just might achieve this year.

Liverpool failed to beat Leeds United last time out. It was a game of crazy twists and turns which eventually took two precious points off the Kops. A win would have helped the champions to gain some ground on Aston Villa, who had lost at the Emirates; they live to fight another day.

Liverpool’s form isn’t the worst. They had won four games on the bounce before the stalemate against Leeds United. Incidentally, the last team to trouble them was the same Leeds whom they played out an entertaining 3-3 draw against at Elland Road earlier in December.

Fulham started poorly, but they have picked things up. They don’t score lots of goals; some important 1-0 wins have gotten them completely out of the relegation dogfight, and they will hope to improve their form with another gritty win at home against the champions.

Fulham has lost only one of their last five, winning three of those, and doing it without three of their top players in Calvin Bassey, who was their player of the season last time out, and Alex Iwobi and Samuel Chukwueze, who are all representing Nigeria at the ongoing AFCON.

Liverpool has been without Mohammed Salah as well; the Egyptian king is doing his thing for his country in Morocco, hoping to land the AFCON title one more time before he calls it quits. Liverpool needs him, but they would prefer the version of him from last season.

Hugo Ekitike has not found the back of the net in any of his last two outings; in the absence of Alexander Isak and continued struggles of Florian Wirtz, the Frenchman needs to step up. His goals will do the Kops a lot of good.

Fulham will need Harry Wilson and Raul Jimenez to both combine to deliver the goods for them. It will be an exciting game for the neutrals, but if Liverpool wants to seal their spot in the top four, they must not drop points in this game.

Verdict: Liverpool to win