Liverpool 0 Fulham 0

Liverpool 0 Fulham 0

Well, well, try as we might, Liverpool could not get a goal in this match nor the expected 3 points needed to keep up the chase in the race for 4th. A serious blow to our chances now as Man City won. With Torres out injured before this match, it was left up to others to get the goals, and whilst we came close and clearly deserved to win the match, we didn’t, and now the pressure really starts.

Benitez lined up Liverpool in his usual 4-2-3-1 formation resting Lucas and Kuyt and giving Babel a start, with Agger once again filling in at left-back:

———— Reina ————
Johnson – Carra – Kyrgiakos – Agger
——— Aquilani – Masch —-
Maxi —- Gerrard —– Babel
——––––– N’Gog ———

Kuyt came on for Aquilani on 65 minutes, Benayoun for Babel on 71 mins, and Pacheco for N’Gog on 78 mins as Liverpool searched for that all important breakthrough goal.

This game might have been a dress rehearsal for the Europa League final, or then again maybe not. It was a very one-sided affair. Liverpool started off brightly as they intended to continue with some early chances falling to N’Gog, Maxi and Aquilani. But Liverpool were clearly missing the finishing quality of Torres.

Liverpool were making good use of the wings. One resulted in a cross from Johnson which was headed back by Stevie G to Aquilani who set himself up for a flashy overhead. However, it was too staight on Schwarzer who had a busy afternoon. Soon after Maxi’s shot was too straight-on again this time saved by Schwarzer’s foot. Mascherano had a volley saved yet it was still 0-0 at half-time.

The one-way traffic continued in the 2nd half. Aquilani had two chances early on. Fulham were deeply entrenched and Babel had a shot saved. Then a very clear cut chance fell to Kyrgiakos who headed over from 5 yards out. Time was ticking by and the goal wasn’t coming and fans frustration grew. The vista of not finishing 4th was now becoming apparent for many. The match ran out. The tallies at the end of the were very one-sided, with Liverpool’s 18 attempts to Fulham’s mere 2. It was indeed one-way traffic but without the deserving end result.

So, what next? What with Villa and Spurs not involved in league action (but being knocked out of the FA Cup), only Man City were on show and they got a resounding 5-1 win against Birmingham. That win and our 2 points dropped leaves our chasing efforts even more precarious. The ladder now looks like this with only 4 games left for us:

62 (Man City p33)
61
60
59
58 (Tottenham p32)
57
56 Liverpool p34
55
54 (Aston Villa p32)

Man City have tough ties, as do Spurs, and the 3 other teams play each other, so points will be dropped. But who’s to say if we can win all of ours, and if we don’t, surely any remaining hope of finishing 4th would be finally buried? Also, there is a big chance that the other teams wont drop enough points. We are looking for big favours now.

So, it looks as if a sorry and weak league campaign is drawing to a close, and the compensation of some silverware in a lower-rated Europa League is all that’s on offer. But the effect of not finishing 4th could be seismic for Liverpool FC, its owners, the players, the management staff and ultimately us fans. These are difficult times.

Redspider