Slot not bothered about theories on when Liverpool could win the league title

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot is not getting carried away about his team's 12-point lead at the top of the Premier League ahead of their trip to Fulham on Sunday.

The Reds beat Everton 1-0 at Anfield on Wednesday to restore that cushion after Arsenal had cut it to nine points after winning 2-1 at home to the Cottagers on Tuesday.

But, according to Slot, they are simply focusing on the next game rather than anything too far ahead.

"We are not working on theories about how many points [this or that would be]," he said.

"We are taking the challenge of Fulham on for Sunday, when we will have to be at our best again to get a result."

Slot was speaking to the media just one day after their victory over Everton, where the decision not to give defender James Tarkowski a red card for a dangerous tackle on Alexis Mac Allister had dominated conversation.

But the Dutchman was not keen on spending time focusing on the decision, acknowledging that human error can happen to anyone.

"I think everywhere around the world mistakes are being made," he said.

"This is something in the league where I came from. We are all aiming for a league without mistakes. "I am aiming for a season without me making one mistake in the line-ups I make, but unfortunately, this will probably never happen - not with me and not with referee decisions.

"Mistakes are being made. If a referee makes a wrong decision, everybody will fall over it. If I make the wrong line-up, everybody will fall over it. I think it is quite an OK season for referees in England, actually."

Fulham head coach Marco Silva, meanwhile, called for togetherness after his side were beaten by Arsenal in midweek.

"We share the good moments and the good vibes together. When you don't achieve something important, like a football match we want to win, then you have to share the disappointment," he said.

"But at the same time, we have to work quicker and prepare quicker for the next one, like we have done since the start of the season."

Looking ahead to the challenge of the league leaders, Silva knows that there is minimal margin for error.

"It's going to be a game that demands us to be close to perfection," he said.

"From our side, we need to fight really hard for the three points. We are in our own battle, too. They want the three points to be closer to the title, we want our three points for our own battle."

Fulham: Antonee Robinson

Only Mohamed Salah (17) has laid on more assists in the Premier League so far this season than Antonee Robinson (10).

That number of assists constitutes a career best for the United States international, whose previous best was six.

Liverpool: Mohamed Salah

Salah has had a hand in exactly two goals in each of his last four away Premier League appearances. No player has ever done so in five away games in a row, with Thierry Henry also having a run of four between April and August 2003.

The Egyptian is both the top scorer in the Premier League this season with 27 goals and the top assistor with 17 assists.

MATCH PREDICTION: LIVERPOOL WIN

Fulham have won just one of their last 13 Premier League games against Liverpool (D3 L9), beating them 1-0 at Anfield in March 2021.

Silva's side have picked up one point in their last 11 Premier League matches against teams starting the day top of the table (D1 L10), though it was against Liverpool in this season’s reverse fixture, a 2-2 draw.

Liverpool, meanwhile, are unbeaten in their last six away league games against Fulham (W4 D2) since a 1-0 loss in December 2011 under Kenny Dalglish.

They have also scored 38 goals in 15 away Premier League matches this season, an average of 2.53 goals per game. That is their joint best in a top-flight season, also scoring at the same rate in 2013-14 (48 in 19 games, 2.53).

The league leaders have gone 17 Premier League away games unbeaten (W10 D7), only having a longer run in the competition between January 2019 and February 2020 (21 games).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Fulham – 25.8%

Draw – 25.1%

Liverpool – 49.1%