Liverpool Held To Goalless Draw As Fulham Earn First Point

Fulham and manager Alvaro Arbeloa claimed their first Premier League point of the season with a battling 0-0 draw at Liverpool.

Liverpool, playing less than 72 hours after beating Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, lacked the intensity and urgency they had shown in midweek and failed to score for the first time this season.

Arbeloa had been under pressure after three straight league defeats since taking charge in the summer, but his Fulham side produced a solid away performance and could have taken all three points with sharper finishing.

Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola made three changes, bringing in Kostas Tsimikas, Ryan Gravenberch and Victor Munoz for Milos Kerkez, Alexis Mac Allister and Rio Ngumoha. Arbeloa made two changes, with David Affengruber making his debut in place of Joachim Andersen and Sander Berge replacing Cesar Palacios.

Fulham should have taken an early lead when Jeremy Jacquet cleared Gonzalo Garcia’s effort off the line after a mix-up between Alisson and Gravenberch. The visitors were better in the first half but failed to capitalize, with Alisson saving from Josh King before Antonee Robinson headed wide.

At the other end, Bernd Leno made a strong save to keep out Munoz’s header, while Timothy Castagne deflected a Bradley Barcola volley behind for a corner.

Kerkez came on for Tsimikas at halftime, and by the hour mark Mac Allister and Cody Gakpo had replaced Gravenberch and Munoz as Iraola looked to shift the momentum. Leno saved comfortably from Alexander Isak and then kept out a powerful Dominik Szoboszlai strike.

Liverpool made a late double change in the 72nd minute, introducing Ngumoha and Jeremie Frimpong, but could not find a breakthrough. Isak headed wide from an injury-time corner, and Fulham held on after late chances from King and Kevin to secure a valuable point.