Player ratings: Liverpool 4-3 Fulham
Written by George Rossiter on 3rd December 2023
George Rossiter is back with the player ratings
Fulham came heartbreakingly close to a historical win at Anfield, only to fall to an eventual narrow defeat in a seven goal thriller. Admittedly, there’s not much you can do when one of Europe’s best teams has their goal of the season competition in one game against you, but the boys in white came out of the game with nothing but pride. That level of performance will surely see results picked up at home in the coming week.
Bernd Leno
It’s normally quite easy to scapegoat a goalkeeper when you concede four goals but it’s hard to criticise Leno when Liverpool scored such an array of brilliant goals, Mac Allister’s in particular dipping over the German at the very last moment. A couple of times where he parried a long shot when perhaps he could’ve held on, but we can put that down to one of his eyes not working after an early injury. The save from Mohamed Salah deep into first half stoppage time was incredible. 6/10.
Kenny Tete
Let’s be fair here, Castagne has been really solid during his run in the side, but ultimately Kenny Tete is another level of quality at right back. Some of the tackles the Dutchman was putting in in the opening stages reminded us of what we’d missed while he’d been injured. A goal is less like what we’re used to seeing, but we will absolutely take it. 7/10.
Calvin Bassey
Slowly seems to be getting used to playing on the right side. It’s not an ideal solution, and perhaps one that isn’t entirely necessary now with the return of Tosin, but the errors on his right foot are less frequent and as a result his overall game is a lot less erratic for it. Some of his cross field passes out to Iwobi showed his ball-playing ability which was good to see. 6/10.
Tim Ream
Considering just how poor a performance Ream put on in the win over Wolves, this was a much-needed improvement. Some of the places he put his head into to win the ball were very brave and stopped Liverpool from getting into even more dangerous positions. Marco Silva clearly trusts Ream, so a slightly settled performance against a good side is reassuring, regardless of the goals conceded column for the day. 6.5/10.
Antonee Robinson
According to WhoScored, Jedi’s 13 interceptions was the most made by an individual player in a Premier League game since at least the 2009/10 season. Robinson was immense all game, especially impressive when faced with a recognised world class winger in Mo Salah. He was important in our final third too, with an assist for Harry Wilson and nearly a goal for himself in the second half as well after Willian set him loose in the box and it took a smart save from Kelleher to stop him. 8/10. – Man of the match.
Joao Palhinha
Showed some really good footwork in the middle of the park, which was particularly impressive considering the technical ability of the Liverpool midfield. Cleared a lot of balls off the edge of our own box, which was really important in a game where Liverpool seemed to want to shoot every time they got within 20 yards of goal. A quieter performance, but certainly not a bad one. 6.5/10.
Harrison Reed
Got into some really decent areas in our final third. When Tete, Wilson and Reed play together down the right hand side, it’s so obvious the connection the three have, and it enabled Reed in particular to have the confidence to go further forward. Some of the triangles the three played to get Fulham out of difficult positions in midfield was really fun to watch. 6.5/10.
Andreas Pereira
Okay, this isn’t saying a lot at the moment, but that wasn’t as bad, or at least not as anonymous a performance from Pereira. Especially in the first half, he actually seemed to want to show for the ball and drive at Liverpool’s defence, something we’ve seen nowhere near enough of since his earlier months at the club. Unfortunately, when in the best position he had found himself in in the second half after a good run in Liverpool’s half, Andreas skied a shot instead of finding one of the better options available to him out wide, much to the away end’s frustration. 6/10.
Harry Wilson
Embed from Getty ImagesA goal in front of the Kop End must have been a hell of a moment for Wilson, and we’re delighted it’s for the white of Fulham. Admittedly, for a lot of the game, Wilson struggled to see much of the ball as Fulham looked to launch the majority of their attacks down the left hand side. However, he did cause Tsimikas problems when he had the ball and a first Premier League goal of the season will do the world of good for his confidence. 7/10.
Alex Iwobi
Caused Trent Alexander-Arnold a whole load of problems until being moved to the right hand side when Willian came on in the second half. Whether it was with pace or trickery, Iwobi had the England international on toast all afternoon. The piece of skill he showed near the dugouts late in the second half was nothing short of extraordinary. The energy he showed to track back during every Liverpool counter attack was incredibly impressive. Iwobi is quickly growing into a dangerous, versatile member of this side. 7.5/10.
Raul Jimenez
Even if his goal came at Villa Park, this was certainly the Mexican’s best game in a Fulham shirt, and it was gutting to see how crestfallen the forward was at the full time whistle following our defeat. Admittedly, Raul struggled a lot in his first half aerial duels against Matip, but after his error led to Mac Allister’s goal, his confidence and desire seemed to grow from there. The footwork and pass he showed to win the corner which led to Kenny Tete’s goal was reminiscent of the player we saw in his prime at Wolves. 7/10.
Substitutes
Tom Cairney
Subbed on after 62 minutes for Andreas Pereira
When Cairney came on, the game had opened up into a real end-to-end battle, and the skipper got on the ball at any opportunity to set up a Fulham counter. His footwork and resulting cross for our third goal was magnificent. 7/10.
Willian
Subbed on after 62 minutes for Harry Wilson
Once the Brazilian came on, he was faced with the much more defensive right back option of Joe Gomez, and as a result didn’t quite have the success of Alex Iwobi in those attacking left positions. 6/10.
Bobby De Cordova-Reid
Subbed on after 75 minutes for Alex Iwobi
Really quite the impressive leap to beat two Liverpool defenders at the back post and nod home Fulham’s third goal, made the desired impact on the game. 6.5/10.
Timothy Castagne
Subbed on after 75 minutes for Kenny Tete
Must’ve felt hard done by to be dropped, hasn’t really ever put a foot wrong for Fulham and hardly did again in this cameo. 6/10.
Carlos Vinicius(subbed on after 90 minutes for Harrison Reed) subbed on too late to be fairly rated.
