Liverpool vs Fulham Prediction: Iraola's High-Press Reds Eye First Home Win

Premier League Matchweek 4 brings Liverpool against Fulham at Anfield on 12 September 2026. Liverpool sit sixth with five points from one win and two draws, whereas Fulham remain winless at the bottom after three straight defeats. A short turnaround from Liverpool's midweek Champions League win adds extra pressure and with both sides run by managers in their first full campaigns, this is a clash of very different philosophies at very different points in their early season runs.

Andoni Iraola and Álvaro Arbeloa have no prior meetings in the dugout, with Iraola having replaced Arne Slot on 4 June 2026 while Arbeloa took over from Marco Silva on 7 to 8 July 2026. Both are finding their feet at new clubs without any shared history to draw on, which means neither manager has a tactical read on the other built from experience.

Liverpool come in unbeaten in the Premier League, with their last outing a 2-0 win at Ipswich where Alexander Isak scored twice, following a 2-1 Champions League win over Atletico Madrid on 9 September 2026, though the squad is being stretched across competitions early. Fulham's situation is bleaker: three straight league losses to Chelsea, Sunderland and Crystal Palace have left them bottom with zero points and a goal difference of minus three.

Liverpool's injury list is uncomfortably long. Conor Bradley (knee), Hugo Ekitike (Achilles) and Giovanni Leoni (knee/ACL) are all out, Federico Chiesa is still unavailable with a back complaint and Joe Gomez, Cody Gakpo and Bradley Barcola are all carrying doubts, which strips Liverpool of meaningful depth on the right side and across the wider forward positions.

Fulham are not in much better shape. Tom Cairney is out with a knee injury and De Fougerolles also misses out, while Larsson is a doubt with a muscle problem and Angel may be left out on the coach's decision. Losing Cairney is the one that stings most for Arbeloa: he is Fulham's most experienced presence in central midfield and his absence makes it harder to imagine them building anything sustained in possession.

Iraola's Liverpool press hard and high in a 4-2-3-1, with Florian Wirtz as the engine of that system in attacking midfield and Dominik Szoboszlai arriving late into the box from a deeper starting position. Arbeloa mirrors the formation with his own 4-2-3-1, though Fulham's version is more possession oriented, with Joshua King leading the line, Alex Iwobi in midfield and Calvin Bassey in the double pivot.

The absences on Liverpool's right side may push Szoboszlai wider, freeing Wirtz to exploit half spaces centrally. With Cairney and potentially others missing, Fulham will struggle to sustain prolonged spells in possession or launch anything structured, which means the game's shape will likely be dictated by whether Wirtz can get between Fulham's lines before Bassey gets a handle on him.

Fulham's last win in this fixture came in April 2025, a 3-2 result at Craven Cottage and Liverpool have rarely dropped points against the Cottagers at Anfield in recent years.

Set pieces matter more than usual given both squads are depleted. Van Dijk is Liverpool's primary target at corners and free kicks and Iwobi's delivery from dead balls is Fulham's clearest route to goal here, though their shortage of bodies in the box may limit how much they can do with it. The unbeaten league run suggests Iraola has the squad physically sorted well enough to handle the midweek workload.

Liverpool 2-1 Fulham. Liverpool's pressing game should suffocate Fulham's attempts to build from the back and Isak, already at three Premier League goals for the season, is the obvious candidate to open the scoring from a transitional chance created by Wirtz. Fulham may grab one back through a set piece or a move driven by Iwobi if Liverpool's reshuffled defence shows fatigue.