Fulham didn’t get the memo on Saturday, as the anticipated bloodbath at Anfield turned into a goalless stalemate.

Here are our Scout Notes from the match.

IRAOLA CITES FATIGUE AS MITIGATING FACTOR

A subdued attacking performance from Liverpool continued the Reds’ poor record at Anfield this calendar year.

The red half of Merseyside have won just four of their 12 home Premier League matches in 2026.

A lacklustre display saw the Reds only just creep above 1.0 xG in stoppage time (see above).

And – get your bingo cards ready – we’ve had our first use of fatigue as mitigation for a poor performance. In September.

“I think there is a lack of freshness, definitely – we cannot hide it. I think it’s the worst turnaround in terms of… I think it’s 60-something hours between the games, after a very big game the other day.

“But this is going to happen more times. Maybe with one more day but sometimes it’s going to be the same way during the season. We have to adapt to these circumstances. And it’s these kinds of games that you need to win sometimes with a set play, sometimes with the shot from the edge [of the box], sometimes from a moment of brilliance from the offensive players, and we haven’t had that today. We’ve been clearly not as good offensively as we’ve been [in] other days.” – Andoni Iraola

As Iraola mentions above, Liverpool will have to get used to it. For starters, a Wednesday-Saturday-Tuesday turnaround awaits the Reds after the international break, with Gameweek 7 the middle fixture in that run.

GAKPO RECOVERS + IRAOLA ON BARCOLA’S FITNESS

In fairness to Iraola, his two first-choice wingers weren’t exactly in tip-top condition.

Cody Gakpo (£7.2m) was flagged as an injury doubt heading into this match, and was limited to second-half substitute duty.

Bradley Barcola (£8.0m), meanwhile, didn’t have much of a pre-season, thanks to a late return from World Cup duty and then a drawn-out exit from Paris Saint-Germain. The Frenchman managed to get through 72 minutes here, and he’ll be better for two starts in the last week. He previously hadn’t had any since July.

“I think with Bradley we are also building his physical condition because he hasn’t had any minutes in pre-season and I think there is a good part where today he played, I think, a little bit more even than three days ago against Atletico Madrid. He had a good chance [at the] second post; they blocked the shot but he arrived well. Probably, we know he has more, but now it’s about giving him the minutes, keep building his confidence also, and he’s a player that is going to give us more.” – Andoni Iraola on Bradley Barcola

ISAK CLOSE, SZOBOSZLAI UNLUCKY NOT TO ASSIST

So, what of Liverpool’s two most-owned players, Dominik Szoboszlai (£7.0m) and Alexander Isak (£9.1m), who both blanked?

If you’re talking in general football terms, these were 5/10 or 6/10 displays. Isak was often isolated and looked short on energy himself, while Szoboszlai was one part of yet another unconvincing central midfield display. Iraola hasn’t been able to put together an effective engine-room pairing yet.

However, purely based on FPL potential, some encouragement.

Isak only had 16 touches all game but he could easily have found the net with any one of his three shots. The first flashed narrowly wide from an angle, the second was an ultimately tame effort after an excellent jinking run, and the third was a close-range, injury-time header from a corner that whizzed across the six-yard box.

Above: Alexander Isak’s xG shot graph in Gameweek 4 (the bigger the circle, the better the chance)

Szoboszlai, meanwhile, racked up three big chances created (BCC, below), one for Isak’s aforementioned header.

The Hungarian had earlier crossed for Victor Munoz (£6.5m) to head against ‘keeper and bar, while an unmarked Barcola couldn’t connect sweetly with another Szoboszlai delivery just before the break.

Above: Players involved in Liverpool v Fulham sorted by big chances created (BCC)

Alas, it was another game without a penalty box touch (or DefCon points) for Szoboszlai, although he did sting Bernd Leno‘s (£4.5m) palms from distance.

As for Florian Wirtz (£7.4m), he saw more of the ball than anyone else in the final third, popping up everywhere, yet seldom threatened to turn those touches into returns. Three shots and two chances created, but none really of any quality.

At the back, Virgil van Dijk (£6.5m) scooped DefCon points for the second time this season.

MASSIVE IMPROVEMENT FROM FULHAM

Liverpool’s tired, toothless display was only one part of the story. Fulham playing partypooper came out of leftfield, particularly after the point-less start to 2026/27 and the talk of dressing room unrest.

Their attack hadn’t really been in question before Saturday; they’d scored twice in both Gameweeks 1 and 3. But their defence had left much to be desired, thanks to the concession of a league-worst 14 big chances.

A few tweaks from Alvaro Arbeloa helped. Shea Charles (£5.0m) and Sanger Berge (£4.9m) formed a more solid central midfield pairing, while Alex Iwobi (£5.4m) shifting to the left wing and replacing the raw Cesar Palacios (£5.5m) added nous to that flank. Most eye-catchingly of all, however, was the removal of Joachim Andersen (£5.0m) and a full debut for David Affengruber (£4.5m).

A DefCon hero he may have been in 2025/26 but, if you were to ask Fulham fans, a decent number would say Andersen has been a defensive liability for some time – even more so in this high-octane Arbeloa team.

Affengruber was a calmer presence at Anfield, and even delivered DefCon points on his debut:

“What a difficult game for him. First game here in the Premier League at Anfield. So against Isak, against very good and top players, but he proved how good he is.” – Alvaro Arbeloa on David Affengruber

“After the Crystal Palace game, I think my players realise how important it is [not just] to attack well, but defend when you lose the ball and control the transition. And we were more balanced today. We defend so well and with the ball, [we did] as well as we did in other games.” – Alvaro Arbeloa

Josh King (£5.5m) looked lively again in attack, registering more shots (four) than any other Fulham player. He was in also in the thick of things, hurdling Alisson (£5.5m), when Gonzalo Garcia (£6.0m) nearly capitalised on a Liverpool mix-up to score early on.

A budget midfielder to consider from Gameweek 5/6 onwards, perhaps.