Player Ratings: Fulham 3-2 Liverpool

The unpredictable nature of this Fulham side in 2025 came to the fore once more at the Cottage as the Whites put the champions elect to the sword with an exhilarating display. Silva’s side dominated the first half and were unfortunate to have a one goal dent in their lead. Despite a late Liverpool flurry of attacks and a Luis Diaz goal, Fulham held on for one of the biggest results of their season, once again raising questions of whether a European adventure could well be on the cards next season.

Bernd Leno

In the first half I was really impressed with how confidently Leno dealt with Liverpool’s crossing from open play and his decision making as whether to punch or catch in those situations was frequently perfect. Despite not getting any blame for Mac Allister’s long range effort, there does seem to be a tendency of him rarely getting close to long range strikes. Alas, he is forgiven for his second-half showing. An early save from Jota from close range was huge to keeping a safe lead for most of the half. His two saves in added time from Chiesa and Elliott were vital, not just in keeping Fulham ahead, but in the way he held onto them, avoiding rebound opportunities and helping the clock tick down. For me, Leno’s best game for a while. 7.5/10

Timothy Castagne

Another who played their best game for some time, maybe spurred on by having competition back in the matchday squad in the form of the returning Kenny Tete. Dealt with Cody Gakpo far better in the main then he had Eze or Martinelli in what was a tricky week before now for the Belgian. Though he struggled slightly against Diaz later on, I was incredibly impressed by his intensity when we dropped into a back five. He pinned his opposition back with  a much more enthusiastic press and even looked to contribute to counter attacks. Showed superb bravery to throw himself in front of a powerful 95th-minute Chiesa strike too. 8/10.

Joachim Andersen

I was impressed in the way the Dane defended his own box throughout the game, and my goodness me do the statistics back that up. His 15 clearances was by far the most on the pitch and feels almost like some sort of defensive record. He couldn’t quite get across to Diaz quickly enough to prevent the Colombian adding a second for Liverpool, but bar that he defended quite well and it didn’t end up in a loss of points so we can forgive it. 7/10

Calvin Bassey

Another mammoth performance from Bassey who, quite quickly, is becoming one of my favourite Fulham defenders of the 21st century. Made a huge first half intervention from eight yards out to deny Diogo Jota from sliding the ball into an empty net, which would have levelled the game at 2-2 at the time. His energy up and down the left hand side was on another level, even moving the ball up the pitch in the last five minutes to take the pressure off the rest of the defence and linking well with Iwobi on the flank when Robinson sat back in defence. 8/10

Antonee Robinson

Still got questions over his fitness and whether or not that contributed to Bassey doing a load of the leg work down the left. And while I didn’t notice him like I did some of our other defenders, Jedi was still quality. His 14 combined tackles, interceptions and clearances is one hell of an effort. The incredible Mo Salah has only failed to attempt a shot on target twice in the league this season. Against Fulham at the Cottage, and against Fulham an Anfield. Something about Salah being in Robinson’s pocket… (if you know, you know.) 7.5/10

Sander Berge

A lot of my worries over Berge recently have been about his struggles to implement the ball carrying abilities I know he has in this Marco Silva system. While he is still yet to register a goal contribution this year, those ball progression qualities were on show so much more in this one, as he swanned through arguably Europe’s most well-balanced midfield this season on a number of occasions. It was his run out of midfield and into the final third that helped to create the first Fulham goal of the game. Another really solid midfield showing. 7.5/10

Sasa Lukic

Just feel a tiny bit frustrated with Lukic at the moment; it feels like he’s taken a backwards step recently where he’s not quite sure where his role lies playing in-between Berge and Pereira. Don’t get me wrong, he hasn’t played badly here. But he’s not getting forward very often and showing creative qualities, and unlike earlier in the season where he was a vital number six, those responsibilities are taken up by Berge leaving Lukic with less of an idea of where to be and what to do. I’m sure it’s not a problem that will persist, he’s still had a much improved season. 6/10

Andreas Pereira

Thought Pereira was absolutely brilliant here, another hilariously good performance against a rival of Man United, ironically. The way he won the ball off Konate in the opening five minutes to create a potential goal-scoring opportunity was a sign of the intensity the Brazilian played at, pressing Liverpool insanely high and pushing their defence into error after error on the ball. Should also be noted that it’s ridiculous he didn’t win a penalty in that exact moment for an erratic Kelleher ‘collision’. Tracking back as intensely as he did in the second half was equally impressive. 8/10

Ryan Sessegnon

This is what we were all dreaming of about eight or so years ago when our boy broke through, a confident, fully fit Ryan Sessegnon making the difference for Fulham in the Premier League. His finish was superb, the sign of a player who finally has confidence in his abilities once more, playing at a place that feels like home. He was brilliant at both ends here, pushing an experienced pro like Robertson into many mistakes, while getting back and covering Castagne when necessary. He was so direct on the wing cutting in, despite multiple managers truing to push him into a full back role, nurturing him into an inverted winger role on the right may be the way to go. 8/10

Alex Iwobi

Showed good composure that he maybe hasn’t shown in recent weeks to pick and choose when to shoot at goal and score Fulham’s second goal, via a slight deflection. He then forced another panic for Liverpool when he forced a save from Kelleher just moments later. Still not sure he’s at his best, there’s not that same desire to take his defender on at pace like there was in the first half of the season, but this will give him added confidence for sure. 6.5/10

Rodrigo Muniz

My goodness me I think Muniz has won the goal of the season award with his finish today. It epitomised everything about the future Brazil number nine that he has become. The first touch to manoeuvre the ball over Van Dijk showed off his insane ability to control the ball and the technique he has with his first touch. His finish the sign of a striker who feels borderline unstoppable when he’s filled with the confidence of the management and playing team around him.

All game he ran Konate absolutely ragged, pulling him out of position, pushing him into errors and eventually forcing Slot to sub the Frenchman off. We don’t need a new striker. We need to develop Muniz further into the player that one day, in my opinion, could provide Fulham with a record-breaking sale fee. 8.5/10 – man of the match

Substitutes

Raul Jimenez (75’ for Muniz)

Not to be too negative after a fantastic team performance, but I saw this as quite a clumsy cameo. His first touch seemed to desert him on multiple occasions, he misplaced as many passes as he got right, and he got in the way of Smith Rowe when he had the ball in a promising position. 5/10

Harrison Reed (75’ for Lukic)

Added great intensity for the final 20 minutes, pushing Liverpool’s midfield into passing wide rather than creating through the middle. Nearly sealed the win with a great effort in added time which produced a great low save from Kelleher. Nice to see him trusted in a big moment. 6.5/10

Emile Smith Rowe (75’ for Pereira)

It was genuinely incredible how easy Liverpool managed to play out of the back when Smith Rowe came on. The intensity of our press completely dropped and he failed to create against a backline that was at times containing Gravenberch. One pass, no shots and no intensity to his game in a twenty minute cameo is completely unacceptable. He just doesn’t seem to get what it means to be a Marco Silva player. 4.5/10

Kenny Tete and Adama Traore (83’ for Sessegnon and Iwobi) subbed on too late to be fairly assessed.

Manager

Marco Silva

Credit where credit is due, I’ve criticised Silva heavily in the past week for tactical struggles in big games, and rightly so, but the complete opposite must be said today. Fulham completely battered Liverpool in the first half. The intensity of Fulham’s press and how ridiculously high and narrow Muniz and Pereira pushed back Van Dijk and Konate meant that Robertson and Jones were dragged into shocking positions which led to the whole backline making errors and Fulham capitalising with three goals in quick succession.

The back five worried me when Tete came on, but it wasn’t the traditional switch to a defensive mindset inviting pressure, Fulham held their own on the counter with Castagne, Bassey and Robinson pushing high, while Andersen and Leno produced heroics at the other end. The decision to finally reward Sessegnon with a start has to be praised too, and hopefully this is the start of a run of games in the side now for “one of our own”. 7.5/10