The game itself was low on clear-cut chances and high on caution. Liverpool finished with an expected goals tally of approximately 1.13 to Fulham’s 0.71, numbers that accurately reflected a contest in which neither side produced the decisive moment. Possession finished 56 per cent to 44 per cent in the home team’s favour, yet the visitors frequently looked the more composed side in possession and twice threatened to take the lead in the opening half-hour.
The clearest opportunity arrived in the 11th minute when a loose pass from Alisson Becker to Ryan Gravenberch was intercepted. Gonzalo García’s subsequent shot was cleared off the line by Jeremy Jacquet. Liverpool’s best first-half response came on 22 minutes when Víctor Muñoz rose to meet Dominik Szoboszlai’s corner only to see his header crash against the crossbar. Alexander Isak, Bradley Barcola and Florian Wirtz, the three high-profile summer arrivals who started together for the first time in the league, were largely contained. Isak dragged an early effort wide and later headed another chance off target from a late corner, but the Swedish striker and his attacking partners struggled to find rhythm against a well-organised Fulham defence.
Iraola had spoken positively about Fulham in the build-up, noting that their three defeats by a single goal each did not fully reflect their performances. “I think they’ve played well in their three games, honestly, they’ve lost their three games by one goal,” the Liverpool head coach said. “I think if you see a lot of the stats they have, if you don’t know the points they have, you will think they will have four, five points at least because they’ve been controlling the games, they have 60-something per cent of possession. They’ve been quite comfortable on the ball especially. They have technically lovely players.” Those observations proved accurate. Fulham enjoyed extended spells of possession at Anfield, at times reaching 73 per cent in periods of the first half, and restricted Liverpool to few genuine openings after the interval despite a series of substitutions that included Cody Gakpo, Alexis Mac Allister, Jeremie Frimpong and Rio Ngumoha.
Arbeloa, returning to the club where he made 98 appearances between 2007 and 2009, received a measured reception from the home support. The former Spain international had shared a dressing room with Iraola during their international careers, a connection the Liverpool manager acknowledged with characteristic understatement. “I think we played very few times together in the national team, we were fighting more or less for the position,” Iraola said. “I think he was more successful in that he played more games than me in that case. But at the end, this is the Premier League. Once the game starts, you focus on yourself.”
Focus proved difficult for Liverpool. The short turnaround from midweek European action appeared to blunt their intensity. Passes went astray, pressing was uneven and the midfield, for long spells, failed to dictate. Fulham’s discipline and willingness to play out from the back repeatedly forced the hosts into uncomfortable positions. Bernd Leno was rarely tested in the Fulham goal until the closing stages, when Frimpong’s low cross in the fourth minute of added time was met by Ngumoha at the far post but sent wide.
The result leaves Liverpool sixth with six points from four matches (one win, three draws). Fulham sit 17th with a solitary point. For Arbeloa the afternoon represented tangible progress after a difficult start. For Iraola it was another reminder that the high-intensity style he wants to impose remains a work in progress when fixtures arrive in quick succession. The clean sheet was a positive, yet the inability to convert territorial advantage into goals against a side previously without a point will occupy the coaching staff in the coming days. Both teams now turn their attention to the Carabao Cup midweek before returning to league action.
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