Liverpool garnered their second straight draw to open 2026 as Cody Gakpo made the most of playing up front with a late goal and numerous chances. However, the Cottager’s Harrison Reed hit a wonder-strike in the 97th minute of stoppage time to deny the Reds all three points.
Gakpo’s Impact
Due to an injury to Hugo Ekitiké, Gako got the start up front for the first time since Jürgen Klopp’s final game in charge. He expressed disappointment in the result, but praised Reed's goal.
“It's disappointing for us,” Gakpo said. “We fought very hard in the second half, dominated at moments and tried to create chances to get through. At the end, I scored in minute 95, they scored in minute 97 - a wonderful goal, to be fair. Unlucky, unfortunate. This is a moment that can happen in a game. I was just sitting down, so I did not see the moments before. I just saw him take a touch and shoot the ball into the top corner.”
Injury Update
Fortunately, Hugo Ekitiké’s injury does not appear to be long-term, as Arne Slot let him out of the lineup for precautionary reasons and a tight hamstring.
"Alexander Isak has been out for a few weeks now,” Slot said. “That has meant that Hugo had to play more minutes than he did throughout the whole season. That has led to the fact that he picked up a slight hamstring injury, because we had to play him more and more and more minutes."For a player that's his age and is not used to the Premier League completely, that has been a bit too much. So, that's why he will be out for today and hopefully be back for the Arsenal game, but that's definitely not sure yet."
Slot Expected Late Goal
For most people, Fulham’s late goal was unexpected, but not so for Arne Slot.
“If you are not part of Liverpool and don’t follow us every game, you think we win it (on Gakpo’s goal), but we are experiencing this many times now. The only chance they got in the first half led to a goal, and the other thing we see a lot is the other team scores in extra time. We were resilient from the start. We were missing so many attacking options, so there were lots of things to like, but it was probably the deserved result.”
LFC Globe Verdict
It’s getting to be a case of anything that can go wrong will go wrong for Liverpool. It looked as if the Reds had three points in the bag. The commentary team even said, “Gakpo wins it for Liverpool,” but it was not to be, thanks to one of the best goals of the season. Still, Liverpool have not lost in nine straight heading into a big match with Manchester United. Considering all the injuries up top, that run is not terrible, and neither is a place in the Top-4 on the table.
