40 min Szoboszlai wins the ball high up the field and finds Wirtz, who pings a shot over the bar from 20 yards.

It’s Rio Ngumoha’s first goal at Anfield, and nobody at the ground tonight will forget it in a hurry. Anthony Taylor played a good advantage, allowing Wirtz to move forward and find Ngumoha on the left side of the area. He twisted Castagne one way and then the other before moving back onto his right foot and curling a perfectly placed shot into the far corner. He set it outside the far post with just enough curler to bring it back into ithe net. That’s such an accomplished goal, the kind a 17-year-old should be incapable of scoring.

35 min After another smooth Fulham attack, Robinson badly overhits his cross. But this is a good spell for Fulham, easily their best of the match.

33 min Harry Wilson comes close against his old club with a trademark curler from the edge of thea rea that dips onto the roof of the net. Mamardashvili probably had it covered, but I wouldn’t put the farm on it.

32 min Fulham are growing into this game. Bobb’s snapshot from 12 yards is pushed away by Mamardashvili, diving to his left. A fairly comfortable save.

29 min King plays a fine reverse pass to the underlapping Castagne, who moves into the area and arrows a cutback towards the unmarked Iwobi 15 yards out He can’t control the ball and the attacks peters out. Moments later Iwobi shoots straight at Mamardashvili from distance.

23 min Ngumoha almost beats Castagne in the area with an extravagant piece of skill. Castagne read it well and got between his man and the ball.

Liverpool have been very good so far.

22 min Salah has a close-range shot well blocked, I think by Berge. He tried to delay the shot to buy a yard, but it was such a crowded penalty area and there was just no room to get a shot away.

20 min Wirtz, Ngumoha and Robertson combine nicely to find Gakpo, whose low drive from 20 yards goes not far wide. Leno probably had it covered.

19 min Fulham’s first corner is punched away with authority by Mamardashvili.

17 min Ngumoha goes down in the area after a slightly clumsy challenge from Bobb. Anthony Taylor waves it away.

16 min It’s still all Liverpool. They’re playing with good rhythm and plenty of intensity. So far Fulham haven’t had a chance to get on the ball.

14 min: Good save! Frimpong fires the ball into Salah, who hits a sharp right-foot shot that is well stopped at the near post by the plunging Leno.

11 min Robertson runs onto a Frimpong cutback, only to hit a tame shot from the edge of the area that is easily blocked.

9 min Ngumoha gets away from Castagne in the area but chips his cross too close to Leno.

9 min The lively Frimpong wins another corner down the right. Salah’s inswinger is nutted away by Bassey.

6 min Nothing comes of the corner, with Konate penalised for wrestling with Berge.

5 min Salah finds the underlapping Frimpong, who wins the first corner of the game. Liverpool have started pr-etty well.

3 min Both teams have started in a 4-2-3-1 formation as expected.

1 min Fulham kick off from left to right as we watch. The home fans launch straight into a song about Andy Robertson, who announced this week that he will leave the club this summer. £8m he cost.

A peedie reminder of the teams

Liverpool (4-2-3-1) Mamardashvili; Frimpong, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Szoboszlai, Jones; Salah, Wirtz, Ngumoha; Gakpo

Subs: Woodman, Gomez, Kirkez, Isak, Mac Allister, Chiesa, Ekitike, Gravenberch, Nyoni.

Fulham (4-2-3-1) Leno; Castagne, Andersen, Bassey, Robinson; Berge, Iwobi; Wilson, King, Bobb; Muniz.

Subs: Lecomte, Diop, Cuenca, Sessegnon, Lukic, Cairney, Smith Rowe, Chukwueze, Raul Jimenez.

Referee Anthony Taylor.

Marco Silva talks to Sky Sports

I like to be ambitious but realistic – Liverpool’s home season has not been that different from last season. We are prepared for a tough game but we are capable of playing good football and let’s hope we can reach our level again at Anfield.

It’s another big game for us. We want to restart in the best way possible [after the international break].

Arne Slot’s pre-match thoughts

[On making five changes] That made complete sense after the week we’ve had. It’s been very demanding physically and mentally. I tried to use yesterday’s training session to see who had recovered fully.

Some of them have to play again because I’m out of options in those positions. We have a lot of ingredients for a good game.

If you play for Liverpool, every game is a must-win, and this one as well.

On the ball – guess the footballer

The Guardian has kicked off a new chapter in puzzles with the launch of its first daily football game, On the ball. It is now live in the app for both iOS and Android … so what are you waiting for?

Arne Slot has said last season’s title triumph “postponed” the end of an era at Liverpool but that the club were under no illusions a rebuild was required when appointing him as Jürgen Klopp’s successor.

Two more links to the Klopp era will be removed this summer when Andy Robertson and Mohamed Salah leave on free transfers. Virgil van Dijk, Alisson and Joe Gomez, the remaining players from the squad that delivered Premier League and Champions League success to Anfield under Klopp, will then enter the final years of their contracts.

Slot is under intense pressure after a dismal season that has brought 16 defeats, a figure he knows is unacceptable. The head coach, however, insists he and the club hierarchy, including the sporting director, Richard Hughes, and the owner, Fenway Sports Group, remain aligned on the reasons for the problems, including an inevitable transition period after Klopp. The turmoil that accompanies transition, Slot believes, was delayed by last season’s Premier League title.