Liverpool toiled to yet another disappointing draw at Anfield on Saturday, with the UK's media far from impressed with Andoni Iraola's team's efforts against Fulham
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 12: (THE SUN OUT, THE SUN ON SUNDAY OUT) Andoni Iraola, Manager of Liverpool, reacts during the Premier League 2026/27 match between Liverpool FC and Fulham at Anfield on September 12, 2026 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Andoni Iraola is yet to win a league game at home since taking charge of Liverpool(Image: Getty Images)
Liverpool fans are becoming all too familiar with disappointing performances at Anfield now. Saturday’s goalless draw against Fulham was as bad as it gets.
The Reds offered very little in a game that will not live long in the memory. Rather more worryingly, on another day, Andoni Iraola’s side could have been staring down the barrel of a first defeat of the season.
Liverpool’s new head coach remains unbeaten, but his side has been far from convincing this year, and not just under his rule. The home form was a concern before Iraola arrived, and it’s showing no signs of abating.
Liverpool.com was at Anfield as usual to run the rule over the Reds’ latest outing, and it was joined by its various colleagues from the UK’s national media. Here’s what they made of the goalless draw with Fulham…
Dominic King - The Telegraph
The game had meandered into stoppage time and Andoni Iraola got his first glimpse of a sight that had become prevalent last season.
Seats emptied to that distinct soundtrack, thud, thud, thud. Supporters flooded to the stairwells, chuntering and shaking their heads, and making their way for home without ever looking over their shoulders. Why should they? They had seen it all before and knew what would happen next.
Alexander Isak and Antonee Robinson during Liverpool vs Fulham.
Alexander Isak and Antonee Robinson during Liverpool vs Fulham.(Image: Paul ELLIS / AFP via Getty Images)
The final desperate attempts to scramble a goal lacked any cohesion and while Liverpool huffed and puffed, they never appeared capable of blowing up a balloon, let alone blowing Fulham’s house down. The final kick of the game was met with indifference.
This was the 12th Premier League contest Anfield has staged in 2026 and Liverpool, incredibly, have won only four – the last coming against Crystal Palace on April 25. The stadium that was once a rich source of points has, almost by stealth, become a problem.
James Sharpe - Daily Mail
One of these teams boasts the most expensive squad in world football. The other sat winless and pointless with speculation of unrest already growing around their new manager. For a little more than 90 minutes, you would not have been able to tell which was which.
And so the wait for Andoni Iraola’s first win at Anfield goes on. Liverpool have just four of them in the league this year. Many inside this famous old stadium were already filing up the concrete steps for home when the final whistle brought this unfulfilling goalless draw with Fulham to an end. Plenty were long into the concourse by the time Rio Ngumoha saw the last of Liverpool’s half-chances come to nothing.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 12: (THE SUN OUT, THE SUN ON SUNDAY OUT) Jeremy Jacquet of Liverpool looks on during the Premier League 2026/27 match between Liverpool FC and Fulham at Anfield on September 12, 2026 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Liverpool is yet to win at home in the Premier League this season
For this was a shadow of the Liverpool from Wednesday night, where they came away deserved winners against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League. This was a leggy, sloppy, uncertain Liverpool. Error-strewn and unsure of themselves. How much of it was because Iraola only made three changes from that midweek triumph? Not enough to excuse Florian Wirtz and the usually dependable Dominik Szoboszlai from either passing the ball straight out of play or frequently to the opposition.
Andy Hunter - The Guardian
Alvaro Arbeloa was often the obstacle to Andoni Iraola’s international ambitions back in the days when both were vying for a right-back role with Spain. On his return to Anfield, and under the watchful eye of former manager Rafael Benitez, Arbeloa thwarted Iraola once again to claim his first Premier League point as Fulham head coach against an ineffective Liverpool.
Fulham belied their lowly position and run of three league defeats to take a merited point from a Liverpool team that was a pale imitation of the one that beat Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday. Iraola fielded a front four that cost almost £400m but the most impressive forward on display was the Fulham academy graduate Josh King. The draw was Liverpool’s third in four league games under their new head coach and the seventh in 12 Premier League matches at Anfield in 2026. Progress can be painfully slow at times.
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Andy Dunn - The Mirror
Four minutes of added time had just been signalled when Dominik Szoboszlai was given a set-piece opportunity from fully 30 yards out.
And everyone knows what he can do from there. Even those escaping the torture early stopped in the gangways. There was an expectant hush. Szoboszlai lined up his free-kick with the care of a Ryder Cup golfer on the 18th.
And then hit it at the wall.
That just about summed up his afternoon, that just about summed up Liverpool’s afternoon.
It is going to be a steep learning curve for Andoni Iraola, that is for sure. But his team’s tepid performance should take nothing away from Fulham, easily the more pleasing side on the eye in a largely forgettable contest.