Clint Dempsey (Fulham’s all-time top scorer in the Premier League) and Brede Hangeland returned to the starting line up for the hosts, having missed the 3-0 win at Sunderland. Damien Duff, however, is out for the rest of the campaign with an Achilles problem, while Zoltan Gera and Rafik Halliche remained sidelined.

Andy Carroll missed the match-day squad due to bruising. Forgotten striker Milan Jovanovic (knee) and Fabio Aurelio were on the verge of return, but Dalglish decided not to take them to Craven Cottage.

Fulham have failed to score in six of their last seven meetings with Liverpool. However, their current form is good with six wins in their last seven home games. During that run, only Blackburn have managed to score against them. On average, Fulham concede their first goal after 31 minutes (the quickest in the Premier League), but their all-time form in May is marginally better than Liverpool’s (gaining 1.68 points-per-game to the Reds’ 1.65).

Only Chelsea (35) had taken more points than Liverpool (30) since Kenny Dalglish took charge of the club. Liverpool had scored in ten consecutive away games, the joint-longest run in the Premier League this season. Lucas Leiva has attempted a tackle ever 16.5 minutes this year, more frequently than any other regular player. 59.2% of Liverpool’s passes in the league this season have been played in or to the opposition’s half, which is the lowest of the twenty clubs.

Other statistics and general trivia can be found in Gary Fulcher’s match preview.

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