In a game littered with controversial refereeing decisions, Fulham managed to eke out a slender 1-0 win over Liverpool, after making the most of Spearing’s sending off on 72nd minute. It was difficult to comprehend, especially after three successive professional performances as the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City were played off the park.

Much of the build-up to the game centred around how the loss of Lucas Leiva to injury will be tackled by Dalglish’s management, especially considering he has been the League’s top tackler up till this point. He used a direct replacement in Spearing, who was at the base of a midfield trio, and sat slightly forward were Adam and Henderson – both of whom had responsibitilies both in attack and defence.

Bellamy had a primary position on the right wing, attacking down Riise’s flank, while Suarez and Carroll weren’t tied down to any particular spot; they had their shackles off them and were able to drop back or move wide as and when they deemed it fit.

For Fulham, their play centred around Murphy, who crafts the beginning of most of their attacks, while the likes of Dempsey and Ruiz continually were allowed to roam inwards from the flanks. When not in possession, Dembele, who starts behind Zamora, continously drops back to hassle and break up Liverpool’s attacks.

Dembele’s key role

Dembele’s contribution for Fulham was all-round and he was all over the pitch – he recorded a total of 11 tackles, 7 won and 6 lost. While his main role was just off the target striker in Bobby Zamora, he did succeed with intelligent movement around the pitch, constantly dropping back. To a certain extent, he did offer adequate protection against Bellamy, covering for Dempsey who cut inwards to provide a further threat for Fulham’s attack.

The above chalkboard represents the tackles he made for Fulham. As highlighted by the black box above, a fair share of his tackles came from Fulham’s left, with 4 tackles being made in Fulham’s own half. It is obvious that Martin Jol had identified that Bellamy was an obvious threat who had the ability to wreck havoc, especially when allowed time to run on the ball. But with Dempsey having a more primary role as an attacker, Dembele was employed to do the graft, covering for Dempsey in the back-tracking department.

Naturally, this allowed Dempsey to cut inwards without much worry as to whether Fulham could cope should Liverpool start counter-attacking, especially down his channel.

Space created between Liverpool’s midfield and defence

With Liverpool starting with a three-man central midfield, one might have thought the Reds were well-stocked in that department. Instead, the use of Dembele was crucial in exploiting this ‘strength’. Since Dembele had the constant opportunity to drop deep into midfield, the likes of Adam and Henderson were naturally drawn towards him. Both Liverpool midfielders recorded little on-the-ball movements especially in a key area which Fulham attacked – central and just outside the penalty box.

As seen in the passing heatmaps from the chalkboards above, both players had very little involvement in passing the ball from that red zone. Inevitably, their overall contribution especially in shielding the back four suffers.

As a result, Spearing had to contend with a “double-team” effort from Ruiz and Dempsey, who were coming inwards. Both of Fulham’s wide midfielders attacked the acres of space that was left between Liverpool’s midfield and defence. Naturally, it was too much to cope for Spearing, so Dempsey was allowed many shots on target especially outside the penalty area.

Conclusion

The above two reasons are most possibly why Liverpool found the going tough against Fulham, who attacked intelligently. The problem was compounded severely when Spearing, who was anchoring the midfield, was sent off. The gaping hole in midfield wasn’t plugged, and so gleefully for Fulham, there was more space to be exploited between Liverpool’s midfield and defence.

It could have been ideal to bring on a centre defender, or someone in the mould of Kelly to actually cover up that fragile area which could have been the difference between a draw and a defeat. However, the game was settled by a blunder by Reina, some bizarre refereeing decisions which did swing the balance in Fulham’s favour. But whether or not Liverpool could have won should those mistakes be eradicated, remains a question mark.