Liverpool vs Fulham prediction, tips and odds | Premier League

One of the more compelling storylines in matchweek four plays out at Anfield on Saturday afternoon, as Liverpool welcome back former player Alvaro Arbeloa, who is now the man trying to rescue Fulham's winless start.

Our Liverpool vs Fulham prediction is a home win with goals at both ends, as Andoni Iraola's side look to build on an unbeaten start against a Cottagers outfit yet to take a single point and already carrying a defensive record that will concern anyone of a Fulham persuasion before the Anfield visit. If you want to explore the markets ahead of kick-off, our betting guides cover the key markets and how each one works in detail..

Preview: Liverpool vs Fulham

Liverpool have been consistent in 2026-27 under Iraola, scoring exactly twice in each of their four competitive fixtures. They did take some time to find the winning formula in the Premier League, but their season truly began with a 2-0 victory against Ipswich at Portman Road last week.

Striker Alexander Isak scored both goals in that game, and while he did not net in Wednesday's Champions League opener against Atletico Madrid, the Reds managed to come from behind thanks to strikes from midfielders Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister.

Interestingly, Mac Allister had expressed his disappointment at not being offered a new contract at Anfield in the summer, but he responded by scoring the winner against Atletico, and he has firmly established his place in the team ahead of Ryan Gravenberch.

A goal on Saturday from Isak, meanwhile, would take the Swede past his entire Premier League tally for the 2025-26 season in just four appearances.

Fulham suffered a 3-2 home defeat to Chelsea and a 3-2 home loss to Crystal Palace either side of a 1-0 loss to Sunderland in matchweek two, where the Cottagers failed to score despite generating sustained pressure, though Josh King's two Premier League goals have helped top off strong performances in the final third from the team.

The problem is Fulham's defence, which has conceded seven times in three games and has not kept a clean sheet under the new manager. For the best over/under and goals markets ahead of kick-off, the best football betting sites in the UK are pricing this fixture as one of the weekend's higher-scoring games.

The only other team to arrive into matchweek four without a top-flight point is newly-promoted Coventry City, and there is a genuinely worrying historical note for Fulham fans to consider: the last time that the Cottagers lost their first four games, they were relegated.

Arbeloa would rather not revisit that precedent, but the new betting sites in the UK have Fulham priced accordingly as significant underdogs for a game where their most likely path to a result runs through the counter-attack rather than sustained possession.

Team news: Liverpool vs Fulham

Liverpool

Liverpool's long-term absentees remain unchanged heading into Saturday. Conor Bradley, Hugo Ekitike and Giovanni Leoni are all ruled out until at least November, with Federico Chiesa not expected back until October – a sizeable chunk of Iraola's depth missing for the first weeks of the campaign.

The right-back problem has been managed through the use of Ronald Araujo in that role, while the attacking injury list has pushed Victor Munoz and Rio Ngumoha into more regular contention.

Iraola confirmed after the Atletico win that both Bradley Barcola and Milos Kerkez suffered nothing more than cramp, with neither issue expected to prevent them from training normally ahead of the weekend.

The more substantive doubt surrounds Cody Gakpo, whose adductor complaint was described by Iraola as “not a proper injury” but he was absent from Wednesday's squad as a precaution. If the Dutchman is not fit, Barcola or Ngumoha will likely fill in on the left side of attack, though risking the former after his cramp may be something that Iraola avoids.

Joe Gomez is edging closer to a return but remains a doubt for this weekend, while Virgil van Dijk and Jeremy Jacquet are expected to remain in place ar centre-back.

Fulham

Fulham's injury situation is, by a significant margin, lighter than Liverpool's. Tom Cairney underwent minor knee surgery in early August and is expected back after the September international break, but while his absence removes experience from midfield, his injury will not significantly alter Arbeloa's preferred structure.

The positive development from Craven Cottage ahead of the trip north is that Manuel Angel, David Affengruber and Hugo Larsson were all included in a matchday squad for the first time against Crystal Palace, giving Arbeloa three additional options from the bench. Larsson featured briefly in the second half and could push for a more prominent role in rotation as the campaign progresses.

Arbeloa is expected to name a similar side to the one that started against Palace. Josh King will lead the attack as Fulham's most productive forward with two Premier League goals from three games, supported by the likes of Cesar Palacios and Oscar Bobb.

For the latest correct-score and first-scorer markets on this fixture, our SpreadEx review covers their Premier League pricing in full.

Liverpool vs Fulham — predicted XIs

Predicted Liverpool XI (4-2-3-1): Alisson; Araujo, Jacquet, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Mac Allister, Szoboszlai; Munoz, Wirtz, Ngumoha; Isak

Predicted Fulham XI (4-2-3-1): Leno; Castagne, Andersen, Bassey, Robinson; Iwobi, Charles; Bobb, King, Palacios; Garcia

Head-to-head: Liverpool vs Fulham

Liverpool hold a substantial advantage across the full sweep of this fixture, with 46 wins against 14 for Fulham in recorded meetings, and the most recent Anfield encounter, a 2-0 Liverpool win in April, continued the trend of the Reds being comfortable at home against the Cottagers.

The two sides met four times across the previous two Premier League seasons, with the meetings tending to be competitive and high-scoring: a 2-2 at Anfield in December 2024, a 3-2 Fulham win at Craven Cottage in April 2025, and a 2-2 draw at Craven Cottage in January 2026 round out the recent picture.

Liverpool have won four of their last five Anfield matches against Fulham, and whether Arbeloa's current team can buck that trend remains to be seen, especially with their defensive issues.

Fulham have not won a league match at Anfield since March 2021, when Mario Lemina's goal produced a 1-0 victory. The 2-2 in December 2024 is the only occasion in which the Cottagers left Merseyside with any reward since that win. Arbeloa will need his side to produce something significantly beyond anything they have shown so far in this campaign to end that sequence on Saturday.

Our Liverpool vs Fulham prediction and tips