Fullham- Liverpool

[whoismorientes]

This is the preview of Fullham-Liverpool match on Skysport.

Liverpool need to close the seven-point gap on neighbours Everton and will be buoyed by their impressive display at Charlton in midweek.

Rafa Benitez's side seem to have overcome a poor patch of form and star striker Fernando Morientes will be pleased that he got off the mark at The Valley.
Dietmar Hamann is back from suspension and should replace Igor Biscan but Benitez is unlikely to tinker too much with his line-up as The Reds eye a place in next season's UEFA Champions League.
Harry Kewell is close to a return and may get a spot on the substitutes' bench, possibly alongside Antonio Nunez, who is no longer suspended after his sending off in the FA Cup defeat to Burnley, and fit-again Vladimir Smicer.

Fulham have a dreadful record at Anfield, they have never won at the famous old ground, but Chris Coleman's side have gone eight matches undefeated and will strive to frustrate the home side.

Coleman has received a ringing endorsement from Chelsea's Jose Mourinho ahead of the trip to Merseyside and is finally able to take a full squad into a Premiership game this season.

Summer recruit Claus Jensen is fit enough to play and Ian Pearce and Alain Goma are also in the party for the trip north.

"It's a nice problem to have," assistant manager Steve Kean told FFCTV. "We've got lots of players coming back.

"There's 19-20 in the squad. Clarky [Lee Clark] is back with a bang, Claus is also back, along with Ian Pearce and Alain Goma."

Liam Rosenior also looks set to retain his place at left back with Carlos Bocanegra being granted a rest.

"Liam has adapted," continued Kean. "It gives Chris a nice option.
Carlos played continuously for 18 months and is having a breather for a few weeks."


My God, keep our fingers crossed and pray for our team's triumph!!

[Nienor]

It's 1-1 in a half-time.
Nando scored again

[miss N.]

I thought they'd play in the evening but now I come online and see the match has already been played. 3-1 for Liverpool yay! Moro scored again! YAY! This man scored goals wherever he is, what an awesome player.

[whoismorientes]

They derseved this victory. They played better than their rival. And the most important point is that Moro scored so they had to win. It was a bit pity that they were evened up the score just after Moro took them on the lead.

[whoismorientes]

[glow=red,2,300]Benitez: Morientes Worth the Wait

[/glow]
By Paul Walker, PA Sport

Rafael Benitez declared the long chase to sign Fernando Morientes well worth the wait and effort after the Spanish star netted his first Anfield goal to set Liverpool on the way to a 3-1 win over Fulham.

This was a must-win game for the Reds as they bid to cut the seven-point lead of neighbours Everton in the battle for the fourth Champions League spot.

Morientes followed up his outstanding first goal for the club at Charlton in midweek with an equally spectacular effort.

Benitez said: “We have been looking for a better level of performance and thankfully we seemed to have achieved that with three wins in succession. It certainly does a lot to replace the feelings we had after losing those three games in a week.

“And I am obviously delighted with Morientes. We needed a good target man and he has become that for us.

“He is good in the air, passes the ball well to the wings and is starting to link well with Milan Baros.

“It was a long wait for him, but he has been worth the wait. Good players make a managers’ job easier. And he is a good player and a good professional.

“Each week he improved. He arrived here having not played for five months and now he is training every day and regaining his match fitness.”<br>
Benitez was happier, too, with his team’s level of consistency.

He said: “We have needed more consistency, and I was pleased certainly with the way we controlled the second half.

“We started the game well, had a poor 20 minute spell, but deserved the points with the way we played in the second period.”<br>
Fulham boss Chris Coleman revealed his players were furious with referee Rob Styles over the third goal because they believed he should have stopped play because of a head injury to Papa Bouba Diop.

Coleman said: “My players could see there was some blood and felt the referee should have stopped the game. Diop should have gone down but he was wandering around holding his head. But the point is that we should not have stopped until the referee blew his whistle.

“I was angry with all three goals that we conceded. We have ’knocked off’(fallen asleep) on all three occasions as the ball came into the box, and you can’t do that at this level.

“I felt we were comfortable at times, we played well and I have certainly seen Edwin Van der Sar busier than that in games.”

[ast]

some of my nando bias was cancelled out by my love of fulham coach Chris coleman (i think he is very sexual indeed. i actually love him. i used to live in the fulham area.). but anyway, Nandos goal was awesome! it was a fantastic header and he was busy all the way through the game, assisting, creating chances, making great passes, all the pundits are now starting to say "yeah he is pretty class", and the liverpool fans i know are very pleased with him! and the team are working really well together, i think they are getting better and better. and real madrid and arsenal won, so all in all, a great day! here's to a top 4 finish!

[mad]

yesh!!!i am super happy that he scored his second goal for liverpool!!!Goal morientes....and more would cum from him!!!he would be the top scorer at the end of the season!!!

[whoismorientes]

Good news: The result of Everton-Southampton was 2-2, so the gap is only 5 points now.

[marie_cecile]

morientes' goal was the real touch of worldclass

[miss N.]

whoismorientes said:

Good news: The result of Everton-Southampton was 2-2, so the gap is only 5 points now.

This is not good news! Everton equalised in the last minute

[whoismorientes]

At least, the gap was closed to 5 points. Before the match everybody believed Everton could get a victory over Southampton. So it is a good news for me

[miss N.]

I know what you mean, but still it bugs me they equalised last minute, the gap could have been reduced to 4 points. Anyway. I think we can get fourth!