4/10 Liverpool dud is not good enough anymore

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After Storm Darragh halted Liverpool’s title bid in its tracks a week ago, Arne Slot’s side will have been wanting a nice easy game to kick off a busy festive period.

While a 1-0 win over Girona a few days ago was relatively routine, there was nothing routine about their 2-2 draw with Fulham. In fact, it was all rather chaotic.

11 minutes in the Cottagers found themselves ahead through Andreas Pereira before Andy Robertson saw a straight red just minutes later having adjudged to be the last line of defence when taking out Harry Wilson.

Liverpool did respond through Cody Gakpo in the second half but Fulham had plans of their own, netting through Rodrigo Muniz. Slot’s men rallied a second time courtesy of the returning Diogo Jota but it was ultimately two vital points dropped in the race for the title.

Liverpool’s best performers against Fulham

Ultimately this was an afternoon to forget for the ten men of Liverpool who could rue a rough day at Anfield once the league wraps up in May.

That being said, there were some positives to take for Slot’s side, notably in the final third.

It may not have been a certain Mo Salah’s day in front of goal but the Egyptian still played a pivotal part in Liverpool’s comeback, chiefly suppling Gakpo’s lovely header just after the break.

Salah cut inside as he does from the right and swung in a tantalising ball towards the back post that Gakpo threw himself at.

Another huge plus point was the return after 11 games out injured for Jota. With Darwin Nunez struggling for consistency this term the Portuguese has been a huge miss and he showed as much with his immense trickery when he came on in the second period.

The way he took his goal was delightful, darting towards the box and then sending goalkeeper Bernd Leno the wrong way.

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As we know, it was not a positive day on the whole though.

Liverpool’s worst performers against Fulham

Robertson has been a tremendous servant to the Reds throughout the years but truth be told, the Scot hasn’t quite been at the races this season, showing signs of age.

Although the sending-off was controversial, he forced the officiating team to make a decision with a hopeless first touch. A cross field ball was intercepted by the left-back but he couldn’t bring it under control and allowed Wilson to get in behind before the Welshman was brought to the deck.

Much of the foundation of Slot’s first few months at the helm has been built not just on Salah’s displays but also on an organised backline.

However, since Ibrahima Konate was ruled out with injury, the Merseyside outfit have leaked five goals in three league games.

Joe Gomez was rather error-stricken in the 3-3 draw with Newcastle but has largely been solid. He is only playing because of the performances of Jarell Quansah who hasn’t looked like the promising centre-back we all know he can be so far this term.

He started the season opener with Ipswich but was hauled off at half-time having been weak in his ability to win duels.

Since then, he has played just 137 minutes in the Premier League and on today’s evidence, it is clear to see why.

Quansah vs Fulham
Minutes played	20
Touches	36
Accurate passes	24/27 (89%)
Clearances	2
Interceptions	1
Tackles	0
Ground duels won	0/1
Aerial duels won	2/4
Possession lost	7x
Dribble success	0/1
Stats via Sofascore.

Playing in the final 20 minutes, he won just two of his five duels, while failing to complete a single tackle.

Said to be a player who “makes a howler every ten minutes” by one Reds content creator, it was that error-strewn nature that saw Liverpool concede a second.

Quansah – who was handed a 4/10 rating by GOAL for his cameo – was arguably at fault with the academy graduate allowing Antonee Robinson to dart past him by the byline.