Liverpool continued 2026 by trudging down to the capital with an injury-hit squad and the most risk-averse of game plans, and what must happen next is clear.
Arne Slot seemingly waved the white flag before the first ball was kicked and set up a side to hold rigid and firm, taking a chance at unpicking the low block with minimal outlets to do so.
Without the presence of the in-form Hugo Ekitike prowling the forward line, Liverpool played the role of a shy assassin with a blunt blade, bits of bravado but zero conviction.
Florian Wirtz’s questionable VAR-permitted goal may have given way to a final surge and what looked like an injury-time winner, only for Liverpool to be stung once more in customary fashion and left boarding the first train out of Euston station back north with tails between their legs.
This Is Anfield takes a closer look at what must now happen next.
Drop Alexis Mac Allister
LONDON, ENGLAND - Sunday, January 4, 2026: Liverpool's Alexis Mac Allister (R) challenges Fulham's Raúl Jiménez during the FA Premier League match between Fulham FC and Liverpool FC at Craven Cottage. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
There is both a disconnect and discontent within the Liverpool squad which is now all too apparent.
The first murmurings of which aired interestingly last week, when Alexis Mac Allister spoke openly about the club making too many changes at once, before hastening to add that he must keep his full opinion to himself.
He is correct, for better or worse. Mac Allister has suffered more than most this season, having seen two of his South American clique in Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz move on, coupled with the tragic loss of close friend Diogo Jota.
The mass upheaval in both the physical make-up of the starting XI and the manner in which it is now expected to play has left Mac Allister high and dry.
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“Many things changed, as I said. New players came in to replace those who left, we changed too many things, but I prefer to keep it to myself.”
Alexis Mac Allister
We’re in January, and the throwaway excuse of Mac Allister not being at the races, or at his usual level, is now tired.
The World Cup winner is the standout example of a player who cannot get to grips with what is now being asked, in a team which currently appears very much void of any distinct philosophy and playing style.
Taking the 27-year-old out of the fold currently feels like the right thing to do. An act to save a talented player falling into a mindset of bitter despair, while avoiding fielding an incoherent midfield which is fit to burst.
LONDON, ENGLAND - Sunday, January 4, 2026: Liverpool's Dominik Szoboszlai during the FA Premier League match between Fulham FC and Liverpool FC at Craven Cottage. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
At Craven Cottage, Slot packed the central channels, setting out each of Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch, Curtis Jones and Dominik Szoboszlai, with the latter not undertaking full-back duties.
It was a little-seen call, culminating in a classic case of too many cooks in the kitchen.
The thinking seemed clear enough: flesh out the midfield to maximise the chance of either possession retention or immediate turnovers, before playing Florian Wirtz or Cody Gakpo through the lines.
Both Gravenberch and Mac Allister interchanged at the pivot, yet neither got a strong grasp on the game. Szoboszlai coming in from a wider position only served to disrupt his fluency, stripping the Hungarian of the confidence he always wears when driving from the centre of the pitch to set the press.
Jones in an advanced role to assist the movement of Wirtz makes some measure of sense, but setting up this way at the expense of Mac Allister does not.
On Sunday, as Raul Jimenez almost broke through one-on-one with Alisson, Mac Allister could be seen floating in no man’s land, too far away from making any meaningful action.
Likewise, as substitute Harrison Reed lashed in the audacious equaliser, the Argentine was pinned back far too deep inside the six-yard box, endless yards away from closing down the man on the edge.
Nothing good can come of this, and Mac Allister is walking off the pitch each weekend with an even greater chip on his shoulder, and understandably so.
With Slot persisting on in this way, something has to give, and Mac Allister down to the bench in order to facilitate a Gravenberch-Szoboszlai-Jones midfield feels the obvious, albeit controversial, solution.
Practice what they preach with Rio Ngumoha
LONDON, ENGLAND - Sunday, January 4, 2026: Liverpool's substitute Rio Ngumoha during the FA Premier League match between Fulham FC and Liverpool FC at Craven Cottage. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
There is now a very unavoidable contradiction in the discourse surrounding 17-year-old Rio Ngumoha.
The club stance remains resolute in that the ‘pathway’ of the wonderkid cannot be blocked, yet game time is now as scant as ever. And this is in a Liverpool team riddled with injuries in the attacking third.
The only pathway blocking right now seems to be being conducted by Liverpool themselves. Sunday’s clash with Fulham presented the best evidence to date of a fixture screaming out for an injection of pace and creativity, of final third ingenuity and flair.
As the Reds hit one brick wall after another, Fulham’s wide men in the back three, Issa Diop and Jorge Cuena, were afforded the luxury of easing into a repeatable pattern.
Draw in close to nullify the advances of Wirtz and Gakpo, leave the big Dane Joachim Andersen to drop deeper and tighten the gap with the goalkeeper. It worked often enough.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - New Year's Day, Thursday, January 1, 2026: Liverpool's substitute Rio Ngumoha preparing to come during the FA Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Leeds United FC at Anfield. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
And yet Liverpool had two speed demons on the bench in the form of young Ngumoha and Frimpong.
Of course, there’s an argument to be appreciated that Ngumoha is yet to hone the off-the-ball work and defensive checklist which is required when being a Liverpool winger, but if adjustments cannot be made to cover for a precocious talent who has proven his huge capabilities in beating a marker, then it begs the question of when is this youngster going to play?
The decision not to like-for-like replace Luis Diaz was put down to affording Ngumoha more chances. Liverpool likewise knew this season was not going to be another cakewalk of a title tilt.
So, the teenager was never going to be thrown on at the end of matches each week with Liverpool cruising 3-0. It’s in the grit of battle that character is forged and talent is truly tested. We’ve heard all too often in football that if you’re good enough, you’re old enough.
Ngumoha needs more minutes or Liverpool are simply not practicing what they preach.
Make moves in the January transfer window
LONDON, ENGLAND - Sunday, January 4, 2026: Liverpool's head coach Arne Slot after the FA Premier League match between Fulham FC and Liverpool FC at Craven Cottage. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
And thus the window is once again upon us. Liverpool rarely dip into the market mid-season, yet, when they do, it’s often to strong effect. Think Gakpo, Diaz, Sturridge, Coutinho.
Recent reports surfacing from the top of the club suggest prospective moves for Bradley Barcola or Malick Fofana are a no-go, again using the same abstract reasoning of blocking out Ngumoha.
And so, it’s stick or twist time. By this logic, Liverpool going the whole of January without making attacking recruitment has to suggest, and must result in Ngumoha getting a rotated run in the team.
Scratch the surface and it feels more plausible that the Anfield hierarchy of Richard Hughes and Co. have had their fingers burnt with the decision of Bournemouth’s Antonine Semenyo to opt for Man City.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Wednesday, October 29, 2025: Liverpool's Joe Gomez speaks to Crystal Palace's captain Marc Guéhi after the Football League Cup 4th Round match between Liverpool FC and Crystal Palace FC at Anfield. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
Concern remains rife though, and rightly so. Liverpool continue to be one major defensive injury away from a crippled back line. A January move to reignite the Marc Guehi signing, which so dramatically collapsed on deadline day, has been met with silence.
Ibrahima Konate’s wayward form coupled with Joe Gomez’s poor injury record means, as things stand, it’s not entirely implausible for the campaign to end with either Gravenberch or Wataru Endo as a makeshift centre half.
Liverpool have to cut their losses regarding what is realistic from here on out this season, but the one remaining grail on offer is the Champions League, and neglecting this because of an ego-fuelled transfer policy could come back to bite harder than anything before.
Dominant European results against both Real Madrid and last season’s finalists Inter Milan have shown that Liverpool can certainly get their house in order on the big stage, regardless of domestic form.
The Fulham result has served as both very timely and very constructive evidence as to exactly why the Reds need to make some tweaks and enhancements this month, with the window in its infancy.
Another last-gasp squandering of victory is painful, but if Liverpool learn from this, there remains a lot to play for this season.