Fulham V Reds: Big Match Preview
http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N166275091031-0857.htmLiverpool return to Barclays Premier League action today with a trip to Craven Cottage to take on Fulham.
The Reds will be hoping to build on the fine 2-0 success against Manchester United last weekend, but will come up against a Cottagers side who are unbeaten in their last five matches.
However, Rafa Benitez and his troops enjoy a good record in SW6 and have won their last two fixtures away to Fulham - most recently in April when Yossi Benayoun fired a dramatic stoppage-time winner.
The opposition
Fulham currently occupy 13th position in the Barclays Premier League and go into this clash with the Reds after claiming an impressive point against Manchester City last time out.
Having found themselves 2-0 down after an hour at Eastlands, strikes from Damien Duff and Clint Dempsey salvaged a point for the Cottagers.
Roy Hodgson's men are unbeaten in their last five matches and can consider themselves unfortunate to have only picked up a point in their recent meeting with AS Roma in the Europa League.
However, Fulham have failed to find the back of the net in each of their last four matches with Liverpool and top-scorer Danny Murphy could miss the game through injury.
The boss
Fulham appointed experienced boss Roy Hodgson in December 2007 with the assignment of attempting to keep the Cottagers in the Premier League.
Having won only twice in the first 20 league games of 2007-08, Fulham were languishing at the foot of the table and looking odds on for the drop.
However, while Hodgson found points difficult to come by initially, he amassed 12 points from Fulham's final five fixtures to ensure the Cottagers retained their top flight status.
Having staved off relegation, the Whites have enjoyed a fantastic 2008-09. Few would have anticipated Fulham claiming their highest ever finish, and a European spot, but Hodgson is something of a managerial veteran with over 30 years experience both domestically and internationally.
After an unspectacular playing career, the 62-year-old has enjoyed a diverse and colourful livelihood as a coach at a variety of different clubs across Europe.
He cut his managerial teeth at Swedish club Halmstad in 1976, where he won two league titles before moving to Bristol City. Hodgson returned to Sweden in 1982 to coach Orebro and Malmo.
In 1990, Hodgson joined Swiss outfit Neuchatel Xamax. He spent two years at 'Stade de la Maladiere' prior to taking up a post with the Switzerland national team.
He guided the Swiss through a tricky qualifying group that included Italy and Portugal, to take the 'Schweizer Nati' to the 1994 World Cup finals in the USA. They reached the last 16 stage before being eliminated by Spain.
Switzerland soared through the qualification process for Euro 96, but Hodgson resigned from his position immediately after they had booked their place at the championships to take up the reins at Inter Milan in 1995.
Hodgson spent two years at the San Siro, losing the UEFA Cup final on penalties to Schalke, before agreeing a deal to join Blackburn Rovers in 1997. However, he was sacked in only his second season at Ewood Park after a string of poor results.
The Somerset-born coach returned to Inter for a brief stint as a technical director ahead of management spells with Grasshoppers and FC Copenhagen.
After a six-month stint with Serie A side Udinese in 2001, Hodgson was appointed manager of the United Arab Emirates. He was dismissed from his position in 2004 and moved to Norway to take control at Viking FK.
He returned to international management a year later with Finland, but quit after failing to secure qualification for Euro 2008.
A month after resigning, Hodgson moved to Craven Cottage to revitalise the fortunes of the West London club - and he steered them to their highest ever finish (7th) last season.
The danger man
Damien Duff is a new arrival at Craven Cottage after Roy Hodgson swooped to sign the winger from relegated Newcastle United in August.
The deal reunited player and manager after the duo had spent time together at Blackburn Rovers during the mid-90s.
The 70-plus capped Irish international has a wealth of Premier League experience, having also turned out for Chelsea.
Pacey and direct, the Reds' rearguard will have to be on their toes to keep the wide-man at bay.
The legend
Fulham's official website describes legendary forward Johnny Haynes as their 'best ever player'.
The forward holds the Cottagers' all-time appearance record, turning out 648 times for the Londoners, in which he scored 157 goals between 1952 and 1970. He became Britain's first £100-per-week player following the abolition of the £20 salary cap in 1961.
Nicknamed 'The Maestro', Haynes was an inaugural inductee to the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002 and Brazilian icon Pele once claimed Haynes was the best passer of a ball he'd ever seen.
Haynes won 56 caps for England, scoring 18 goals.
Fulham fact file
Fulham were formed in 1879, originally as Fulham St Andrew's Church Sunday School, and are the oldest professional team in London.
They are nicknamed 'The Cottagers' or 'The Whites'.
Fulham play at Craven Cottage, which has a capacity of 25,500. It's been their home since 1896.
However, between 2002 and 2004, Fulham played their home matches at the nearby Loftus Road while Craven Cottage underwent renovation.
Johnny Haynes holds the Fulham record for most appearances. The forward made 648 appearances for the Cottagers over a period of eighteen years.
Gordon Davies is their record goal scorer with 178.
Fulham's highest ever finish was 7th, which came last season.
Players to have been on the books of both Liverpool and Fulham during the Premier League era include Danny Murphy, Steve Finnan, Jari Litmanen, Karl Heinze-Riedle, Stan Collymore and Tony Warner.
Riedle is one of three ex-Reds to have managed the club, along with Roy Evans and Kevin Keegan.
Liverpool inflicted Fulham's record defeat with a 10-0 victory in a League Cup second round tie at Anfield in September 1986. Steve McMahon scored four times, with Ian Rush (2), John Wark (2) and Steve Nicol also on the scoresheet.
Match stats
By Ged Rea
Head to Head: (League only)
At Fulham: Liverpool 9 wins, Fulham 7 wins, 6 Draws.
Overall: Liverpool 25 wins, Fulham 7 wins, 12 Draws.
Last season at Craven Cottage Liverpool won 1-0 with Yossi Benayoun scoring the winner in injury time. The Reds had earlier hit the woodwork four times in the game.
Their best win on this ground came in October 2004 when they won 4-2 after being two goals adrift at half-time. In that game Xabi Alonso scored his first Liverpool goal.
Billy Liddell, with the help of two penalties, scored Liverpool’s only hat-trick in meetings between the sides doing so in September 1954 at Anfield.
The Reds are looking for a third successive league win at Fulham for the first time in their history.
Liverpool have kept a clean sheet in each of the last four league meetings since Clint Dempsey scored the only goal of the game at the Cottage in May 2007. That was Dempsey’s first goal for the London club.
Fernando Torres is three goals away from recording 50 in the league for the Reds. Should he score them in the next 13 games he will have achieved the feat quicker than any other Liverpool player ever.
The only Fulham player to score a hat-trick against Liverpool is Elton John's uncle Roy Dwight who did so in 1956.
Fulham have won one of their last five league games - a 2-0 victory over Hull at home. However, they are unbeaten in the last three.
That victory is one of two they have recorded in front of their own fans in the league this season. The other was against Everton and they have lost at home to Arsenal and Chelsea.
Last weekend they came back from two goals down to draw at Manchester City.
