Fulham have a “sensational” player who Liverpool need to be worried about this weekend, but the Reds are still being backed to win handsomely.

Jurgen Klopp‘s side head to Craven Cottage on Sunday afternoon, knowing that anything other than a win would feel demoralising.

Liverpool take on a Fulham side with little to play for between now and the end of the season, but they are capable of being a big threat on their day.

The Cottagers have already won at home to Arsenal this season and another below-par Reds performance could easily lead to a bad result.

Ahead of Sunday’s match, Henry Jackson spoke to Fulham fan and journalist Kyle Bonn (@the_bonnfire) to discuss the season to date, the weekend clash and much more.

Since we last spoke in December, have things got better or worse?

Things have stayed about the same, which is a good thing!

There are still major holes in midfield that must be addressed in the summer, but the emergence of Rodrigo Muniz up front has been sensational.

Replacing Aleksandar Mitrovic with an academy product is something nobody saw coming, and it saves the club a boatload of money they can spend at other positions.

There have been some great results and some awful performances, but that will happen in today’s Premier League.

Overall, it’s a positive end to the season to not be part of the relegation battle, even if Fulham seem to have headed to the beach a bit earlier than we would have liked.

Who have been Fulham’s best and worst players this season?

Incredibly, Willian and Bobby Reid have been great yet again, despite both being over 30 years old. Their contributions have been huge to keeping this club afloat and pushing it forward.

Bernd Leno hasn’t quite been able to recreate his season-long heroics from last year, but he’s done just fine, and the emergence of Muniz has been a wonderful bonus.

Alex Iwobi has been wonderful in his first season as a low-risk, high-reward signing, while the emergence of Tosin Adarabioyo has been massive.

The club has a number of valuable assets that they can hopefully cash in on in the near future, such as Tosin, Joao Palhinha and Antonee Robinson, and reinvest accurately.

On the flip side, the midfield has been a mess. Palhinha may leave this summer if Bayern Munich are still interested, and there are very few remaining assets in the middle who inspire confidence in next season.

Is Silva still the right man for the job?

Marco Silva is absolutely the man for the job.

The list of players who have overperformed anyone’s expectations for them under Silva grows by the month.

He is tactically adept and has the versatility to adapt as a season goes on. He can navigate an injury crisis well and he can develop talent and get the most out of mediocre players.

There is no coaching search at Craven Cottage this summer, and rightly so.

How do you assess Liverpool’s title hopes?

Oh my. We were all counting on you and Arsenal to give us something different, but you both botched it!

Man City winning another title would be the biggest bore, but sadly, it has that same feeling of inevitability as when they finally passed Arsenal last season.

Unfortunately for Liverpool, it feels as if the Gunners are better equipped to challenge City than you are, given the massive injuries Jurgen Klopp has been forced to navigate.

The more Liverpool played with fire late in games, the more it felt like this slip was inevitable.

Given the injuries and other squad constraints, the job Klopp has done this season is nothing short of remarkable, but it feels as if there are too many roadblocks to the Premier League title.

The one thing going for them is if they are eliminated from the Europa League, they won’t have to worry about navigating European football at the same time down the stretch, which does matter.

Who would you like to see win the league?

Anyone but City at this point – let’s have some fun shall we?

There is no reason to have the same nation-state-owned club winning every year.

From a neutral, journalistic point of view, either Arsenal or Liverpool winning would provide plenty of interesting storylines, but I think I’ve had enough of City for now.

As for Sunday, where will the key battles take place?

For Fulham, it always starts with Pahlinha, who needs to be a rock in the middle against Liverpool’s exceptional transitional play.

Robinson and Timothy Castagne (Kenny Tete? Probably not) will have their hands full on the outside and need to limit the times they are beaten one-on-one.

Going forward, if Pereira doesn’t have it through the middle, which is usually a coin flip, they will need to rely on Iwobi to run transitions and create danger in the attacking third.

This game has the potential to be a track meet just like it was in the reverse fixture which ended 4-3.

Fulham put in a fantastic shift that match and Liverpool will have to be far sturdier to avoid another slip in the title chase.

Still, if they bang one in early, Fulham have the potential to collapse, especially now that their season is essentially over.

If you could only have one Liverpool player at Fulham, who would it be?

Oh man, where to start?

It’s got to be Alexis Mac Allister, who I’ve repeatedly yelled about being far too underrated as a ‘Signing of the Season’ candidate.

The Argentine is just 25 years old and has been exceptional all year long in both phases of play – a true No. 8 star in midfield.

Watching the difference between Liverpool last season and this season starts and ends with the influence of Mac Allister in midfield.

Of course, Mohamed Salah is a star, but the way Mac Allister has single-handedly turned around Liverpool’s midfield — which was swiss cheese last season — has put stars (and dollar signs) in my eyes.

Finally, what’s your prediction?

Fulham have been so inconsistent over the past two months that it’s been tough to predict which version of the Whites will show up, but as the end of the season nears, they’ve been more and more mentally soft.

If Liverpool can crack the lid off the goal early, they have the potential to run away with this. With the club having suffered a few adverse results of late, it will be hard to keep them down for long.

Liverpool should come away as 3-1 or 4-1 winners in the end.

Of course, if Willian scores a stunner and Pereira has one of his trademark masterclasses, and Liverpool miss a few chances (which they’re prone to lately), it could end very differently.

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Liverpool’s search for a new manager has the club resolved to be “brave over popular” with their appointment, with three candidates already ruled out.

The narrative of Liverpool’s hunt for a successor to Jurgen Klopp has already taken a number of turns since the news of his resignation in January.

Xabi Alonso became the immediate favourite for the job, but the club kept their own counsel when it came to rumours, with the confirmation that he would stay at Bayer Leverkusen seemingly less of a shock to them.

Brighton‘s Roberto De Zerbi was another early front-runner, but it is now widely reported that he is not under consideration.

Friday brought the news that Julian Nagelsmann has extended his contract as Germany manager, while earlier in the week, ex-Bayern Munich boss Niko Kovac publicly dismissed claims he was in the running.

Sporting CP’s Ruben Amorim is now the overwhelming favourite, but The Athletic‘s David Ornstein insists Liverpool are “prepared to be brave over popular” with their choice.

Amorim, he insists, is “not a shoo-in” for the job, which indicates that, at least where the media is concerned, no decision has been made yet.

The notion of being “brave over popular” could lead Liverpool to a shock candidate, though from an outside perspective there seem few viable options.

It has been maintained that, benefiting from the input of director of research William Spearman and new arrivals Michael Edwards (CEO of Football) and Richard Hughes (sporting director), the search will be data-led.

Whether that could lead them to a left-field target such as Bournemouth‘s Gary O’Neil, for example, would certainly fit into the “brave over popular” mantra.

O’Neil is now fourth-favourite among bookmakers, behind only Amorim, De Zerbi and Bologna manager Thiago Motta, but there would be major question marks over his credentials.

Interestingly, odds have shortened in recent days when it comes to Feyenoord boss Arne Slot, while Thomas Tuchel, Unai Emery and Vitor Pereira, who currently coach of Saudi Pro League side Al Shabab, are also deemed in the frame.

Sources in Portugal have been adamant that Amorim is the primary candidate and even that talks had progressed with the 39-year-old’s representatives.

But perhaps the key takeaway when it comes to Ornstein’s update is that, when it comes to Liverpool’s new manager pursuit, the club are simply giving nothing away.

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Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp remains positive about their place in the title race and still believes if they win all remaining six matches they will be Premier League champions again.

A difficult run of results – starting with a draw at Manchester United and followed by home defeats to Atalanta and Crystal Palace – ended with a 1-0 Europa League victory in Bergamo but that could not prevent their exit from the Europa League 3-1 on aggregate at the quarter-final stage.

A first clean sheet in 10 matches was a boost to confidence, especially as they continue to struggle to find their best form at the other end of the pitch, and Klopp thinks the two-point gap to leaders Manchester City can be overhauled with a perfect run in.

“It’s not obviously in our hands, it is not about that,” said Klopp.

“I think if we would win all our games there is a good chance we will be champion. If not there is a good chance someone else will be champion.

“Maybe we only have to win five, but nobody knows. Who would have thought that Arsenal lose against Aston Villa?

“We all sit here and think ‘OK, yeah. City will win all their games’ and that’s happened quite frequently, but they have a lot of games to play and difficult opponents as well.

“We don’t think about that. We don’t think about them. It is just how can we make sure we start winning games again.”

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Over the course of their recent rivalry, Liverpool have had a couple of seasons where the race to the line with City has seen them miss out by just a point despite matching each other win-for-win for the majority of the run in.

But Klopp said that experience was not necessarily as positive as onlookers may believe.

“When we were in the position we didn’t win the league in the end. We lost by a point and stuff like that. What kind of experience is that?” he added.

“We know how to get there – and then don’t [win]. It’s not about that.

“It’s good to know that you are good and you can cause other teams problems.

“But the thing is clear: if you want to be champion in the Premier League you have to be close to perfect and if you are not perfect you have to deal with the setbacks in the best possible way or in a perfect way.

“That is what we are now doing. We had a setback week with three games we didn’t like too much, the results especially, and now we have to start turning it around.”

Key to turning things around will be a change in fortunes in front of goal.

Three goals in their last four matches has stalled their progress with the forwards failing to take numerous opportunities they have created.

Mohamed Salah, whom Klopp defended after he missed a key chance to make it 2-0 against Atalanta, has scored six – two of which were penalties – in 11 matches since returning from two months out with a hamstring injury.

Luis Diaz has two in eight games, Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo have just one in their last seven, while Diogo Jota has yet to find the net in three appearances since returning injury.

“We had good moments and had an awful lot of chances, and didn’t use one of them more of less,” said Klopp.

“That’s not great but the worst thing in football is not to have chances. It is better you deal with chances you miss than you have no chances.

“That’s why I’m absolutely positive and after processing things properly, yeah, I’m more than happy with the situation.”

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A high-profile name has been cut from Liverpool’s shortlist of potential new managers, which could also impact on Jurgen Klopp‘s next job after leaving.

Another manager has been ruled out of the running to take over at Liverpool this summer, with all signs pointing to Ruben Amorim as Klopp’s successor.

With Xabi Alonso committing to Bayer Leverkusen and Roberto De Zerbi no longer in consideration, Germany manager Julian Nagelsmann is also off the table.

This comes with the 36-year-old signing a new long-term contract to lead the Germany national team beyond this summer’s Euros and through the 2026 World Cup.

Nagelsmann was widely reported as a leading candidate for Liverpool, but was also being courted by Bayern Munich as they prepare for Thomas Tuchel’s exit.

That appears to have spurred the German FA into action, with Nagelsmann due to extend a deal which was due to expire after the tournament, which runs from June 14 to July 14.

Klopp’s future

While this is largely conjecture, this development could also have a big marker on Klopp’s plans after leaving Anfield.

Klopp was viewed as an obvious long-term appointment in the Germany job, with it previously reported that the “absolute dream” scenario would be him taking over in early 2025, after a sabbatical.

Nagelsmann’s renewal could indicate that Klopp had no intention of taking that job at this stage.

More importantly, though, it suggests that Sporting CP manager Amorim is an increasingly likely appointment for Liverpool.

All signs point to Amorim

With Nagelsmann ruled out along with Alonso and De Zerbi, the Portuguese is the most prominent name still believed to be under consideration, with bookmakers placing him as an overwhelming favourite with odds of 1/3.

In a Q&A for The Athletic on Thursday, however, journalist David Ornstein insisted that Amorim, while “in the mix”, was “not a shoo-in or a nailed-on first choice at this stage.”

“From what I hear [Liverpool] should be in a position to make more concrete advances on whoever emerges as their top target pretty soon,” Ornstein explained.

He added: “[They] won’t be afraid to look beyond the obvious names if others fit their criteria – and they’re prepared to be brave over popular.”

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With Alexis Mac Allister starting his sixth game in 19 days on Thursday night at Atalanta, Jurgen Klopp hinted his “crazy” feat could cost him a place vs. Fulham.

Following the 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace on Sunday, Klopp admitted that he had been forced to play both Mac Allister and Wataru Endo more than he should have.

But while Endo dropped out of the starting lineup for the second leg of Liverpool’s Europa League quarter-final four days later, the Argentine was retained.

Mac Allister went on to play the full 90 minutes, which he has done in each of the last six games in a ridiculous 19-day run.

With a trip to Fulham to come on Sunday, three days after the loss in Italy, the manager reflected on Mac Allister’s “absolutely insane” feat.

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“You saw tonight, Trent Alexander-Arnold, a player we didn’t have for a while now,” Klopp told reporters.

“As long as he was fresh he, together with Macca, set the tempo, the rhythm, the direction of the game.

“Then obviously he was running out of gas a bit.

“Macca had to go through this game, which is crazy, and the way he did it is absolutely insane.”

Mac Allister has clocked 540 minutes – or nine hours – on the pitch in under three weeks, averaging a full game of football every 3.2 days.

Virgil van Dijk is the only other Liverpool player to do so, though his role is less intense than that of a No. 8 or No. 6 in Klopp’s midfield.

With Endo shuffled out against Atalanta, the likelihood is that Mac Allister will be considered for a rest on Sunday at Craven Cottage.

Whether Liverpool can afford to leave the 25-year-old out, however, is a different question, as he has consistently been one of, if not the, best players on the pitch in every game.

Klopp does have other midfield options, with Harvey Elliott a prime candidate and Ryan Gravenberch also available, but the manager has been reluctant to start either of late.

There are only six games left to play now this season following Liverpool’s exit from the Europa League – but while the temptation will be to push the likes of Mac Allister through, Klopp will have to remain sensible.

In his post-match interview with TNT Sports he conceded: “We have to see who can go again.”

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Liverpool started strong but were quickly snuffed out in their Europa League decider at Atalanta, with Alisson‘s post-match statistics summing the night up.

Hopes were kindled when, with just seven minutes on the clock, Mohamed Salah netted his penalty to bring the aggregate scoreline to 3-1 in Thursday’s quarter-final.

But that was to be Liverpool’s peak in a second leg that promised much but, as has often been the case of late, delivered little.

The Reds dominated possession in Bergamo, with 70 percent of the ball per FotMob, but they increasingly struggled to even break out of the middle third of the pitch.

Ibrahima Konate (106) was the only player to end the game with more touches than Alisson (105), while no player completed more passes than the goalkeeper (82).

More startingly, though, according to Opta’s Michael Reid, Alisson made more passes than any other goalkeeper in either the Champions League or Europa League since records began.

Alisson touched the ball more than two times the amount of opposite number Juan Musso (46), and his total of completed passes was more than five times that of the Atalanta stopper (15).

It highlights just how difficult Liverpool found it to break down Atalanta, who employed man-marking throughout both legs of the tie.

A familiar pattern set in during the second half as Alisson recycled the ball to his centre-backs, with Alexis Mac Allister also dropping in to keep possession ticking.

There was never a killer ball, though, and rarely even an attempt to break the lines – with one notable situation seeing Curtis Jones collect from Konate and slow play down just as the Frenchman looked to drive through midfield.

That Alisson saw so much of the ball is not an issue in itself, given Liverpool won the game – but in the context of a two-legged tie, it clearly was.

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Liverpool’s performance in their 1-0 win at Atalanta was a limp one throughout, with few players impressing on the night.

Jurgen Klopp‘s men knew they had a huge task on their hands to overturn their 3-0 deficit, and a thrilling turnaround rarely looked like happening.

Mohamed Salah opened the scoring with an early penalty, but rather than kick on, Liverpool got increasingly worse as the minutes ticked by.

Here we compare our player ratings with those of the Liverpool Echo, GOAL, FotMob and This Is Anfield’s readers.

Indeed, it was Salah’s missed opportunity before half time that seemed the turning point and his all around performance was lacking.

The fact that Alisson (6.7) got the highest score, on a night when Liverpool needed a sparkling attacking performance, summed it up.

The Brazilian kept the Reds’ first clean sheet in 10 games, which is at least a positive.

TIA’s Mark Delgado lauded Alisson‘s “stupendous one-handed save to claw away Van Dijk’s misplaced interception”, adding that he “spent a lot of the second half constantly angry at the midfield for not moving enough.”

In second place was Alexis Mac Allister (6.5), who once again stood tallest alongside his outfield colleagues.

It may not have been a vintage showing by the Argentine, but Ian Doyle of the Echo said he “used possession well whenever he could.”

Meanwhile, GOAL’s Mark Doyle felt that Mac Allister was “once again Liverpool’s best midfielder”, doing his best on a poor night.

Trent Alexander-Arnold (6.4) showed flashes of brilliance against Atalanta, getting the third-best score in Italy.

Ian Doyle said that Liverpool’s vice-captain’s passing “caused real problems for the hosts defence”, while Delgado hailed “two magnificent passes from deep.”

As for the lowest rating, Salah (4.9) took home the wooden spoon, as his wretched run of form continues.

Next up for Liverpool is Sunday’s crucial trip to Fulham in the Premier League (4.30pm BST).

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Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp accepted their lack of goal threat failed to put enough pressure on Atalanta to help turn their Europa League quarter-final back in their favour.

Mohamed Salah‘s seventh-minute penalty had raised hopes of a Barcelona 2019-style comeback but the Egypt international missed a relatively straightforward lob to make it 2-0 towards the end of the first half and they faded badly after the break as they exited the competition 3-1 on aggregate.

That meant for only the third time in the 21st century, England have no teams in the semi-finals of the Champions League or Europa League/UEFA Cup.

“We didn’t lose the tie tonight, we lost it at home,” Klopp said after a 3-0 first-leg defeat proved decisive.

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“It’s very easy to congratulate Atalanta because they deserved to go through. When you win a tie against us 3-1 in especially this way you deserve it absolutely.

“But I loved our game, especially the start. I loved the commitment, desire and power we developed in this game but it was clear we had better score from time to time otherwise it could be tricky over 90 minutes.

“The second goal could have helped a little bit. We have to create a little bit more than we did in the first half as it’s clear you need a result to help destabilise the opponent.

“If you have a second goal it’s a tricky one as the next goal is extra time but we didn’t get to that point and we will never really know how that would have looked.

“Disappointed we didn’t go through but not frustrated or angry. If you don’t deserve it, it’s all good.”

Salah has looked well short of his clinical best since returning from almost two months out with a hamstring problem.

Even though he has scored six in 11 game since he came back two of those have been penalties and he is squandering more chances he would normally be expected to take.

“I’m not particularly concerned. That’s what strikers do. That’s how it it is. We have to go through it, he has to go through it,” added Klopp.

“He is one of most experienced players in the squad. That’s pretty much all.

“It’s not that Mo didn’t miss chances before in his life, that’s part of the game. The penalty was super convincing, a super penalty then the next chance that was unlucky, but it’s not the first time has has missed chances like that.

“I won’t make a big story of it. I’m not particularly concerned.”

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Jurgen Klopp and Virgil van Dijk have looked to quickly turn the focus after Liverpool’s exit from the Europa League, with the goal to “focus on the league.”

Over the last month, Liverpool have seen ambitious hopes of a quadruple collapse, knocked out of the FA Cup and now the Europa League.

Though the Carabao Cup is already in the bag, their chances of lifting the Premier League took a major hit at the weekend, too, as the Reds lost to Crystal Palace.

But after a 3-1 aggregate defeat to Atalanta – which came after a 1-0 win in Bergamo on Thursday night – the league is all Liverpool have left to play for.

No surprise, then, that Van Dijk asked supporters to help the players give their all in the final six games.

“We have to very quickly turn this around, recover, and travel to London on Saturday [to play Fulham on Sunday],” the captain told TNT Sports.

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“We need everyone for that last push as well, and that’s the feeling that I’m getting already now.”

Van Dijk clung to the positives – in that “obviously we won and we kept the clean sheet” – but accepted that exiting the Europa League left a “bad feeling.”

“What we have to do is get back up,” he continued.

The Dutchman added: “That’s the aim now. Obviously everyone feels disappointed, I feel disappointed, but we don’t have a lot of time to be disappointed.

“Hopefully our fans will be there again, I’ve got no doubt. We need them more than ever for the last six games of the season, where anything is still possible.”

Also speaking to TNT Sports, Klopp took a similar view to his centre-back, insisting that his side produced “the reaction we wanted to show” but they were left with a bitter taste.

“Atalanta deserves to go through, 100 percent, that’s fine,” the manager said.

“We can now focus on the league. That’s what we’ll do from exactly now on.”

Klopp continued: “Tonight we won the game, so back to winning ways, now we have two-and-a-half-ish days’ time to make sure we recover to go against Fulham, which will be a tricky one, a completely different game but tricky.

“We have to see who can go again. But this tonight was the reaction we had to show, and the boys showed [it]. I’m not surprised, they always do that.

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“Obviously a bit mixed emotions, I’m disappointed we are out, but I’m happy with big parts of the game. That’s it, pretty much.

“Let’s put a line under this competition. We would have wished, for our people, that we go to Dublin, but that now didn’t happen.

“Now we have one competition left and we throw everything have into that.”

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After Liverpool went out of the Europa League to Atalanta, Jurgen Klopp admitted he was “disappointed” but pointed to positives as he said Liverpool were “back to winning ways.”

Despite winning 1-0 at Atalanta, Liverpool’s second-half performance left fans disappointed at a missed opportunity to mount a comeback.

Following the match, Klopp told TNT Sports: “I liked the game a lot for a long time. The commitment, the desire, the power the boys showed was incredible.”

The performance was an improvement on the last two outings, but there was little to hang your hat on in terms of positivity from the game.

"It didn't go our way but I liked the way we played"

Jurgen Klopp gives his assessment on Liverpool's #UEL quarter-final second leg with Atalanta…

?? @DannyJamieson | #UEL pic.twitter.com/QMsySlZhnH

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) April 18, 2024

“Atalanta deserved to go through 100 percent, that’s fine, and can now we focus on the league and that is exactly what we will do from now on,” Klopp added.

“We created 67 shots in the three games that we didn’t win one of. That’s really strange.”

The manager is right to point out that Liverpool have no doubt been unlucky in front of goal, but the tie against Atalanta weren’t lost due to poor finishing.

It was lost because the Reds couldn’t track their runners in the first leg and couldn’t maintain attacks in the second leg.

The German continued: “Tonight we won the game, we are back to winning ways, we have two-and-a-half-ish days time to make sure we recover to go against Fulham – that will be a tricky one, different but tricky.

“We have to see who can go again but this tonight was the reaction we had to show, the boys showed. I’m not surprised, they always do that.

“Obviously mixed emotions; disappointed that we are out but happy with big parts of the game.”

The Reds can’t afford to let recent results get in their heads as they prepare for six games that could lead us to forget this Europa League fiasco, if they were to be won.

Klopp finished by saying: “Let’s put a line under this competition. We would have wished for our people to go to Dublin but obviously that now didn’t happen.

“We have one competition left and we have throw everything we have into that.”

It is a message that supporters and players may as well heed. It is fine to be sad that Liverpool are out of Europe, but it won’t help their league chances.

There is a small chance the Premier League can be won and, while that chance remains, we must go for it.

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