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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Dom Smith

Why Fulham can hold no fear of Anfield ahead of Liverpool showdown in Carabao Cup

Fulham are one of the few sides who can take heart from their visit to Anfield this season.

Marco Silva’s side were 3-2 up and on course for a famous victory after Bobby De Cordova-Reid gave them an 80th-minute lead at Liverpool in December.

Two late Liverpool goals meant the Cottagers lost 4-3 but, ahead of their first-ever Carabao Cup semi-final, they return to Merseyside tonight knowing they can hurt the in-form Premier League leaders.

Fulham will be helped tonight by a number of Liverpool absentees, including Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Silva will likely look to attack down the flanks, where the inexperienced Conor Bradley may fill in for Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez is likely to cover at left-back.

Liverpool may have beaten Arsenal in the FA Cup on Sunday, but they conceded 19 shots at goal, which showed they are vulnerable.

If Fulham can match what the Gunners did but add a clinical edge, they will believe they can cause an upset against the Reds.

For that to happen, they must reproduce the sort of finishing that saw them record back-to-back 5-0 wins over Nottingham Forest and West Ham last month.

Raul Jimenez scored three of those 10 goals and is likely to lead the line tonight. Jimenez has struggled since his move from Wolves but can ingratiate himself with the Fulham faithful by giving his side something to take back to the return leg.

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