Liverpool

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Liverpool are in a very unique position, having such a large lead to a point where most people would accept that the league title is probably done.

That is different to a lot of the title races in years gone by which may explain their dip in form, but it reminds us of just how difficult the Premier League is

It also shows how much credit they deserve for this season because at times they did not play as well - as has been the case in recent weeks - but picked up so many points.

They are trying to find their rhythm again but they're up against teams who themselves have much to play for - like Fulham this last weekend for example having the chance to play in Europe again. The last third of the season is the hardest because every team has some goal to play for.

I don't think recent performances show Liverpool require a massive rebuild this summer.

Trent Alexander-Arnold's probably going to be leaving, but I think it's just a case of deciding, figuring out who's going to be there next season, and then building a plan around that.

You want your captain and most influential players to stay. Ultimately, it's the squad that's going to be lifting the Premier League title on the final day of the season. I think to say that squad requires a big rebuild would suggest that this season was a fluke, and I don't think that's been the case at all.

I think they'll know the areas that they need to try to bolster and and I don't think it's that many.

I don't think they're going to be looking at a completely different side next year with low expectations because as the season starts, if they have the majority of the same squad, I don't see why those players and managers would not believe that they can win the Premier League title again.

Nedum Onuoha was speaking to BBC Sport's Nat Hayward

Liverpool and Arsenal are looking at alternatives to Alexander Isak, with Newcastle United adamant they won't sell their 25-year-old striker. (i paper), external

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Ian Kennedy
BBC Radio Merseyside reporter

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Having a full week off after what happened at Fulham will be no bad thing.

An 11-point lead with seven games to go is still a fantastic position to be in, and while Arne Slot will have been concerned with what he saw in the first half at Craven Cottage, he certainly will not panic.

And the players know nothing is done yet. There is work still to do before the title is secured.

In Premier League terms, the Reds have earned the right to have an off day. Only their second defeat, so a great record ends, but they will already be looking ahead to West Ham on Sunday and a chance at home to settle things down again.

One of the positives from Sunday was the return of Conor Bradley. He looked strong when he came off the bench, and if he is fit to start at the weekend it will be a big boost given the absence of Trent Alexander-Arnold.

That could also help Mohamed Salah, whose recent form has been a discussion point.

But, as they say, form is temporary and class is permanent. He has not scored in four games but Slot is not worried and I would not be surprised if Salah adds to his 32-goal haul sooner rather than later.

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Emma Smith
BBC Sport journalist

Both managers generally stood alone at the edge of their technical areas, and were the ones to issue instructions to their players.

Marco Silva was not shy of expressing his views to the officials - he flew into a rage at Fulham not being awarded an early penalty, while referee Chris Kavanagh had to come over for a word after Silva felt Rodrigo Muniz was fouled.

Silva would occasionally sit down and speak to coaches, but he was usually found pacing the length of his technical area shouting instructions to players.

Arne Slot also stood throughout most of the game, although as more of a watching brief; he would turn to coaches to express thoughts after key moments.

His longest period sitting down came after Liverpool went 3-1 behind, when he looked furious and exasperated. After all five goals, Slot spoke to various players in his team - such as Curtis Jones, Cody Gakpo and Diogo Jota - to issue instructions.

See what all the other managers did

Pat Nevin
Former footballer and presenter

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Liverpool slipped at the weekend, but they would need to deliberately hurl themselves off the edge of a cliff to blow the title this season. It ain't going to happen.

A major reason is that Arsenal have been unable to sustain the pressure and much of that is down to not having a backup striker, or indeed an out and out striker at all.

Back up strikers are important, though hard to find. Natural goalscorers are a selfish bunch, so asking a quality one to be an understudy waiting for the real star to dry up isn't simple but it is necessary.

When Kai Havertz got injured the short term answer of Mikel Merino up top might have given hope to the Gunners but the recent league form in front of goal has been damning for the title pretenders.

Only five goals scored while winning just two of the past six league games, and scraping only nine points from 18, simply isn't good enough.

It is time for Mikel Arteta to focus on beating Real Madrid, who have got one or two players capable of scoring a goal, I hear. Meanwhile Liverpool can continue to rummage about in the back of cupboards searching for those beach towels.

No one is piling on the pressure.

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Jordan Chamberlain
Fan writer

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We are starting to get a taste of what life will be like next season without Trent Alexander-Arnold if he leaves Liverpool - and the player it affects most is Mohamed Salah.

Without the world-class right-back, who has been injured for a month now, Salah has fallen off a cliff - failing to score or assist five times on the trot.

Trent feeds Salah constantly. His passing range is arguably the best in Europe, but Trent's replacements cannot find the Egyptian inside or outside of the box. As a result, Salah has barely had a kick in weeks and the team are struggling without his offensive input.

He was on track for the best Premier League season of all time in terms of goals or assists, but it does not look like he will break the records now.

Salah regularly finishes seasons worse than he starts them, but this drop-off has been considerable. Liverpool were poor against Fulham and deserved to lose. In truth, we have not played well since the 2-0 victory over Newcastle United on 26 February, and that was six games ago.

Trent's absence has stifled our best player, but Salah will likely not have Trent in the side at all next season.

Can Liverpool's recruitment team secure a right-back who can fill Trent's void and get Salah ticking again for next term?

It's a huge question.

Find more from Jordan Chamberlain at Empire of the Kop, external

Shay Given explains to Match of the Day 2 how "15 minutes of madness" in the first half cost Liverpool in their Premier League defeat at Fulham.

Watch Premier League highlights on Match of the Day 2 on BBC iPlayer.

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Alexis Mac Allister says Liverpool still have work to do to win the Premier League title and must cut out the mistakes that cost them against Fulham on Sunday, as the runaway leaders produced a poor defensive performance at Craven Cottage.

Their remaining seven league matches include home games against West Ham, Tottenham, Arsenal and Crystal Palace plus away fixtures against Leicester City, Chelsea and Brighton.

"I think there's going to be a lot of people saying that the Premier League is done but, in the dressing room, we know that it's not," said Argentina international Mac Allister after the 3-2 defeat.

"We still have a lot of games coming up and all of them are going to be really difficult in a league like this. Everyone is fighting for something."

One good thing for Arne Slot's side between now and the end of the season is that they will have a week to prepare for each of their remaining seven games, with no midweek matches left in the calendar.

While nearest rivals Arsenal are involved in the Champions League this week, Liverpool have a clear week to prepare for West Ham's visit to Anfield on Sunday (14:00 BST).

"I'm pretty sure we will come back stronger and, in the next game, we will show what we can do," the midfielder added.

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Following Liverpool's first defeat away from home in the Premier League under boss Arne Slot, we asked you to have your say on the 3-1 loss to Fulham.

Here are some of your comments:

Phil: Liverpool looked like they didn't want to win the game until Luis Diaz and Conor Bradley came on. So many back passes. Need a bit of heavy metal football back in our game.

Steve: No panic but what a lacklustre display. A masterclass in giving the ball away. We seem to excel in giving ourselves a second half challenge, which we failed at on this occasion although at least upped our game. Taking nothing away from Fulham who played really well, but I would expect to take something out of that game.

Richard: It's clearly been a long season - the players look knackered! But Arne Slot has a lot of work to do during the summer. There are players that I think need to leave and players that need to be brought in. We lost that game today in the first half. You can't expect to win a game when you concede three goals in 15 minutes. The entire back four were at fault for goals today. I think most of those players will be glad when this season is over.

James: Two points here: One - Mohamed Salah has had a dip in form. The gaffer is taking too long to realise that. Two - regular defenders Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk are out of sorts. Reshuffling the team rather than relying on tired legs will help a great deal.

Steve: It's becoming a little sloppy again. Whether it's attitude or a little arrogance, I don't know. But a truly good team would not let it happen. Liverpool were playing like a slick team but it seems to have dropped off. All the background transfer talk doesn't help. They need more urgency and to get a grip.

Russ: Fair play to Arne Slot as this is the biggest papering-over-the-cracks exercise since Sir Alex Ferguson's 2013 title-winning team. And we all know what has happened since then. Massive overhaul required in the next few windows.

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Former Premier League striker Clinton Morrison says Fulham forward Rodrigo Muinz "was a nuisance" and caused Liverpool centre-back's Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate "all kinds of problems."

Out of possession, Fulham hassled the Reds, pressing from the front with Muniz and cutting off the passing line and preventing the visitors from playing through them.

Having worked so hard to get the ball, they had no desire to give it away cheaply.

"Fulham were outstanding and the atmosphere was incredible," said Morrison on BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily podcast. "They needed to bounce back after the defeat by Crystal Place the week before [in the FA Cup quarter-final] and to a man, they were fantastic.

"Calvin Bassey and Antonee Robinson did not give Mohamed Salah a kick. Bassey was aggressive, he got forward and the midfield were strong.

"Rodrigo Muniz caused Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate all kinds of problems and his goal was fantastic. He was a nuisance and it was the most frustrated I'd seen Van Dijk.

"Usually he is cool, calm and collected but he was kicking the ball out and shouting at the team-mates. Muniz got right under their skin.

"Full credit to Fulham because they gave Liverpool no time on the ball and were really in their faces. Liverpool made the mistakes and Fulham punished them. "

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Highlights and analysis from Sunday's four Premier League fixtures, plus the best of the action from the rest of the weekend.

If you missed Match of the Day 2, catch up now on BBC iPlayer.

And you can watch Saturday's Match of the Day here.

Listen back to the weekend's full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Crystal Palace 2-1 Brighton

• Aston Villa 2-1 Nottingham Forest

• Fulham 3-2 Liverpool

• Man Utd 0-0 Man City

Liverpool and Arsenal are set to be among the main teams trying to sign Crystal Palace and England midfielder Eberechi Eze, 26, this summer. (Caughtoffside), external

Meanwhile, Bournemouth will demand £40m for Hungary left-back Milos Kerkez, 21, who is on Liverpool's radar, along with £50m-rated Fulham and United States defender Antonee Robinson, 27. (Mirror), external

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Sam Drury
BBC Sport journalist

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There is never a good time to lose a game but there are certainly worse times than when you're 11 points clear at the top of the table.

Liverpool will not be pleased, especially given the manner of the goals they conceded, but defeat at Fulham should make no difference to how this season ends.

With a maximum of 11 points still needed to clinch the title, though, Arne Slot's side will not want to allow this to drag on.

There was a slackness to them in the first half at Craven Cottage, including errors of varying degrees leading to the three Fulham goals, that you simply would not associate with Liverpool this season.

A much-improved effort in the second half was much more familiar but, on this occasion, they had left themselves too much to do.

There were suggestions of tiredness prior to the international break as the end of a long season comes into view, and playing just one game a week until the end of the campaign should help mitigate any such issues.

That is a luxury they have rarely been afford this season and they will hope the additional rest helps bring a renewed sharpness between now and the end of the season.

Regardless, Sunday was a clear reminder, if it were needed, of the standards required to win in the Premier League.

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Liverpool boss Arne Slot has been speaking to BBC Match of the Day after the defeat: "It's not often that we concede three goals, let alone in one game or in 15 minutes. We could have prevented it. We scored a good goal but, apart from that, the second half performance was much more what we are like.

"Conceding three goals like that is not of the standards of Liverpool. We were creating chance after chance after chance [towards the end]. In the end, we lacked time to make up for the three mistakes we made in the first half."

On Mohamed Salah not scoring for four club games: "Maybe he should see it as a compliment [that people are talking about it] because his numbers were not normal [when he was scoring].

"The good thing about Mo is that he knows what kind of a player he is. Mo will show up again, I don't worry about that."

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Liverpool suffered only their second Premier League defeat of the season, ending their run of 26 unbeaten league games since losing 1-0 to Nottingham Forest in September. It was their first away league defeat since April 2024 vs. Everton (0-2), ending a run of 17 away matches without defeat in the top-flight.

Liverpool conceded three goals in the first half of a Premier League game for the first time since their 7-2 defeat to Aston Villa in October 2020 (1-4 at HT), and the first time ever after having scored the opening goal of a match in the competition.

Were you at Craven Cottage or following from elsewhere?

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