Liverpool look to consolidate at Craven Cottage

After a bewitching afternoon, in which Anfield was mesmerized to the hilt and the fans were forced to rise to their feet in honour of such a stupendous display, it is now time for Liverpool to step on the throttle. Fulham at Craven Cottage has been a banana peel of sorts for Liverpool in the past few seasons which Liverpool will hope to avoid slipping on. The onus now lies on Liverpool to prove that the West Bromwich result was an aberration.

Call me an opportunist, but Liverpool are probably playing Fulham at the best possible time. With leaders Arsenal playing against Manchester United and Chelsea and Manchester City playing against West Bromwich Albion (away) and Sunderland (home), there is a real possibility that Liverpool can close the gap and make noises about a possible title challenge.

Brendan Rogers has time and again emphasized this season that Liverpool’s aspirations are to finish in the top four and nothing more than that, but with only six points behind leaders Chelsea, there is a certain air of positiveness blowing at Anfield.

Steven Gerrard thought long and hard before concluding that the Saturday afternoon against Arsenal, ranks among his top best performances ever for Liverpool, and believe it when Gerrard says that for Anfield has seen quite a number of magical nights with Gerrard being the central character. The Premier League this season has been quite a drama this season with central characters such as Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea being the star attractions this season. Liverpool, Everton and Spurs are playing the role of other peripheral characters but they are quite integral to the plot as it turns out.

The drama is not just restricted to the top clubs only, with seven points separating the bottom team from mid table comforts. A win here, a loss there might just end up catapulting teams from the bottom to top. The fluctuating nature of results has forced all clubs in the last ten to treat every match as a relegation battle. Fulham may be lying at the bottom of the table, but they will have taken a lot of heart from the result they got at Old Trafford where they ended up getting an equaliser in what is famously known as “Fergie time”. The draw aside, it is the manner in which they scored the equaliser is what will have given them belief that they are up for the scrap for survival.

Liverpool on the other hand have been the talk of the town, but the Premier League is an unrelenting league and no sooner has the gloss worn off, Liverpool now travel to Craven Cottage seeking three points. With the top three teams facing mid table opposition, Liverpool may have the chance to close the gap if the others drop points.

Brendan Rodgers was all smiles on Saturday; there was effusive praise for Martin Skrtel, who was almost on his way out this summer. Martin Skrtel’s performance this season has been nothing short of commanding. Playing in a back four which has been hampered by injuries, the consistency which Skrtel has displayed has helped Liverpool flourish in their attacking avatar. Suarez may have been getting the goals along with Sturridge but it is the overall attitude of the Liverpool players that has helped Liverpool sustain and entertain this season.

There are still thirteen games left in the season, Liverpool know that they are responsible for their own destiny. They may have been playing eye-catching football, but Liverpool also need to show the same resilience that they displayed early on in the season, where they were producing results which propelled them to the top. If Liverpool are to secure their position in the top four they can ill afford results such as the West Bromwich one, where they frittered around and eventually ended up conceding a equaliser, courtesy a Kolo Toure horror back-pass.

The lights though are now shining at Anfield and the question is now whether they will be able to light up Craven Cottage in the same manner.