It’s only the first weekend of August, but the 2022 Premier League season is upon us. A full slate of games is scheduled for this weekend, with Crystal Palace and Arsenal kicking off the action on Friday before the rest of the games are played on Saturday and Sunday. For Liverpool, they’ll head to London to take on Fulham on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. local time (7:30 a.m. EST).
Fulham are back in the Premier League this year after running away with the EFL Championship in the previous season. Interestingly, this will be the fourth straight year that Liverpool begin their season by taking on the winners of the Championship.
⚪️ 106 goals
— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) May 2, 2022
⚫️ 90 points
⚪️ 27 wins
⚫️ 43 goals for Aleksandar Mitrovic - a new record
⚪️ 19 assists for Harry Wilson
⚪️ Three promotions in as many Championship seasons
Fulham are champions of the Championship - one of the greatest sides the second tier will ever see ✨ #FFC pic.twitter.com/ydz5r3nMpo
The Reds will also be interested in adding to a different streak, as they’ll be looking to get a victory on their first match of the season for the fifth straight year.
https://twitter.com/LFC/status/1555258013153464320?s=20&t=JL28WLMO-5wApPTDP_cnVQ
The main thing on the minds of Liverpool fans is what lineup Jurgen Klopp will go with. Portuguese forward Diogo Jota is still out with the same hamstring injury that kept him out of the preseason, and he presumably won’t return for at least another few weeks. This leaves Klopp with an interesting choice up front, with Darwin Nunez and Roberto Firmino each offering their own qualities; Nunez being the exciting new signing and Firmino being the more controlled, experienced veteran.
For Fulham, their main objective for this season is to simply avoid relegation, which they failed to do in their two most recent appearances in the Premier League. Liverpool will likely be one of their most difficult opponents of the season, so it’s safe to say that most Fulham fans would probably be content with just getting a draw in this opening match.
In terms of history, Fulham won the previous match 1-0, which took place in March of 2021. That was their first win over Liverpool in nine years, and they would surely love to make it two in a row. You can check out the highlights from that game here.
But more than anything else, this match simply marks the beginning of a new Premier League season full of possibilities. The goals for these two teams this season couldn’t be more different, but on Saturday, their fanbases will be able to share in the enjoyment of having Premier League football back.