LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Liverpool slumped to a sixth straight Anfield loss on Sunday when Fulham’s 1-0 victory deepened the Premier League champions’ struggles.
Much of the pre-match discussion had been about Mohamed Salah’s reaction to being substituted in Thursday’s loss to Chelsea. The week got worse for the striker when he was caught dithering in possession inside his own penalty area. Mario Lemina seized his chance to drive a shot across goalkeeper Alisson Becker and inside the far post for his first Fulham goal in the 45th minute.
Liverpool had been enjoyed a 68-match unbeaten streak at Anfield in the league until losing to Burnley in January.
The latest loss left Liverpool in eighth place — 22 points behind leader Manchester City.
“Believe me these boys want to (win),” Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp said. “We don’t have the mentality we are used to but the boys want to win games and I saw that today. We still made mistakes and that’s the problem.”
Fulham has lost just once in the last seven and is is now only in the relegation zone on goal difference, although it has played a game more than 17th-place Brighton.
“The front-foot attacking side I want us to be was there and we got our noses in front with some good skill from Mario,” Fulham manager Scott Parker said. “You understand coming to a place like Anfield and the quality they possess you are going to have to be organized and disciplined.
“A win like this galvanizes, not that we needed it or a result to give us belief or an understanding of what we can do as it’s constantly been there.”
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