Liverpool and Fulham Share the Points in Scoreless Draw at Anfield

Not Alexander Isak, not Florian Wirtz, not Dominik Szoboszlai. None of the names wearing red on the day could break the deadlock at Anfield. Liverpool played out a 0-0 draw with Fulham in a Premier League match that had everything except goals: shots off target, timely saves, and a visiting defense that held firm at exactly the right moments.

The home side's dominance was clear from the start. With 56.1 percent possession and 495 passes to Fulham's 394, the Anfield side pushed forward, attacked, and created chances, but lacked the finishing touch that usually comes so naturally. As early as the 8th minute, Isak tested the keeper with his left foot from inside the box after a Bradley Barcola assist, but the ball drifted just wide. Fulham responded quickly: in the 9th minute Josh King also threatened in the box, and in the 10th minute Gonzalo Garcia fired a right-footed effort that the home defense cleared away.

The first half produced the clearest chance of the match for Liverpool: in the 21st minute, Victor Munoz connected with a close-range header off a Szoboszlai cross, but Fulham's goalkeeper flew across to tip it over the bar. Wirtz also had his moments, with two attempts between the 24th and 30th minutes that skimmed just past the post. Fulham, disciplined and patient, weathered the storm and reached halftime with the scoreline still blank.

The script didn't change much after the break. Isak tried his luck again in the 51st minute with a low shot that the visiting goalkeeper held onto, and minutes later Calvin Bassey nearly caught Liverpool off guard with a header for Fulham that sailed just over the bar. The second half brought a flurry of substitutions: Cody Gakpo, Alexis Mac Allister, Jeremie Frimpong, and Rio Ngumoha came on looking to change the game, while Fulham turned to Rodrigo Muniz, Emile Smith Rowe, and Hugo Larsson to try to hold on to the result.

The closing stretch had more heart than clarity. In stoppage time, with four minutes added on, Isak rose for another header from close range off a corner kick, but the ball narrowly slipped away from him. The 0-0 scoreline held until the final whistle.

Match Numbers

The numbers confirm what played out on the field: Liverpool had more of the ball, more shots, and as many as four big chances to Fulham's one, but couldn't turn that into a goal. Our estimate of xG generated in the match (our own calculation based on shot location, not a prediction) gives Liverpool 1.927 to Fulham's 0.877, a gap that backs up the home side's dominance even though it wasn't enough to tip the scoreline.

The result also runs counter to our pre-match projections: our preview gave Liverpool a 56 percent chance of victory, a 25 percent chance of a draw, and just 19 percent for a visitor's win, with expected goals of 1.92 for the home side and 1.06 for Fulham. The draw, the least likely of the three outcomes according to that model, ended up being exactly what happened.

In the standings, this result leaves Liverpool with 6 points from 4 matches played (one win, three draws, no losses), in sixth place. Fulham, for its part, has only 1 point from 4 matches (no wins, one draw, three losses), sitting in 18th. The gap between the two sides in the table is 5 points, a margin that today's draw did nothing to close for the visitors or extend for the home side.

Anfield is left with the feeling of a missed opportunity: dominance, passing, shots, and as many as four big chances weren't enough to secure all three points. Fulham, on the other hand, walks away with a point that, given its position in the table, carries more weight than it might seem.