It’s largely become accepted wisdom that the bulk of Liverpool's successes and failures have been built on the smallest of margins in recent years.
And if Jordan Henderson's last-gasp, 25-yard curler had dropped inches lower, Jurgen Klopp will have been able to puff out his cheeks and move on from a taxing examination in west London with three precious points in the bag. The tone of the post-match inquest would certainly be less terse, at least.
The fact the skipper's arched effort only cannoned off the woodwork, however, means that Klopp and his staff will have to sift through the frustration and disappointment for over a week now until Crystal Palace visit Anfield on August 15. There is much to discuss behind the scenes.
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Throw in a potentially damaging hamstring injury to Thiago Alcantara and Klopp will be cursing his luck after this 2-2 draw at newly-promoted Fulham. But this was not a result that came from any real misfortune. Far from it.
The Reds were simply nowhere near their collective best in the capital as Marco Silva's Championship winners showed what they are about with a performance full of heart and desire that dragged Liverpool into the sort of dog fight they are usually so adept at side-stepping.
“We got a point from a really bad game from my side,” Klopp said. “The attitude wasn't right in the beginning. We didn't deserve more. The performance needs massive improvement.”
When the manager is questioning the application of this group of players, it’s a massive sign that things haven’t gone according to plan.
For the Reds boss, there are some positives at least. Reserves of character only ensured this did not result in defeat and Darwin Nunez is up and running in the Premier League after lively cameo from the bench that neatly encapsulated what the Uruguayan is all about.
The term 'handful' feels like it was coined for the new £64m striker and this second-half display showed there are plenty of rough edges to assess. But while they are smoothed out over the coming months, Nunez looks like he will score goals in a Liverpool shirt.
Mo Salah will too, of course, and he extended his own Premier League record of opening day goals to six with Liverpool's second leveller of the afternoon. But Fulham had enough about them to ensure they did not become the fourth newly-promoted team in as many years to be beaten by Klopp's men on the opening weekend.
Pre-season proved to be something of a mixed bag for Klopp. Three wins and as many defeats were populated with a number of unwanted and untimely injuries as the Reds flew from Thailand, Singapore and Austria before ending their summer schedule with defeat at Anfield against Strasbourg.
There have, however, also been plenty of positives to take into the campaign with Nunez and Fabio Carvalho adjusting well alongside new contracts for Joe Gomez, Diogo Jota and most notably Salah.
The fact that Sunday sees a behind-closed-doors friendly with Aston Villa at Anfield suggests Klopp didn't entirely feel everyone of his squad was up to speed in time for this curtain raiser at Craven Cottage. There are probably a fair few here who he also believes will also benefit from further fine tuning.
It was Fulham who provided Klopp with arguably his nadir at Anfield when they pilfered a 1-0 win on Merseyside in March of last year. The result condemned Liverpool to their sixth successive home loss, a new club-record, and it represents the Cottagers last win in the top flight.
The Reds have come a long way back up the mountain since those injury-hit, crowdless days of early 2021, of course, and they spent the entirety of last term aggressively reasserting themselves as one of the giants of world football.
But they seemed to forget who they were entirely in an anaemic first half that saw Silva's hosts deservedly lead through Aleksandar Mitrovic’s header.
The opening half hour was defined by a lack of intensity from the visitors as Fulham’s buoyancy helped them get the upper hand. Mitrovic headed home at the back post after isolating Trent Alexander-Arnold and it was nothing less than the home side deserved.
The goal seemed to rattle the Reds and when Thiago is tripping over the ball from the restart, you know something is amiss. Luis Diaz, who earlier had a goal ruled out after Andy Robertson had strayed offside, struck the post in response but that was as close as they came in a poor first half that will go down as one of their worst 45-minute displays of the calendar year. Klopp’s men were nowhere near their best.
Matters weren’t helped when Thiago was forced off through injury just a few minutes into the second period. With Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain also sidelined, it will only embolden those who feel a midfielder is a must before the transfer window closes. On this evidence, their claims have merit. On came Harvey Elliott for the Spain international as Nunez was swapped for the ineffective Roberto Firmino. The game passed the Brazilian by.
It felt like it was the moment that would steer the game Liverpool’s way as the Reds suddenly looked more threatening with a presence up top. Nunez was first denied with a flicked finish with little room to work with but a second attempt would not be as he made it 1-1 with impudence after Elliott’s intelligent ball had sent Salah scampering clear.
Mitrovic had other ideas though. Fulham were awarded a soft penalty when the Serbian went down following a flick of the leg from Virgil van Dijk. Referee Andrew Madely pointed to the spot and the Fulham striker added his second of the afternoon.
A response came from Salah after Nunez had controlled Tim Ream’s miscued header into the path of the Egyptian for a tap-in and Henderson almost won it in spectacular style, but as Liverpool know all too well, those margins can be cruel. In truth, it would have seen them escape with an undeserved victory. It could be a busy week of training at the AXA Centre.
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