Robertson’s red card makes for a ‘smelly afternoon’ after Pereira’s goal

Liverpool left-back Andy Robertson had one of the most forgettable games of his career as the Premier League leaders surprisingly fell behind at home to Fulham on Saturday.

Scotland captain Robertson was injured early on, deflecting Andreas Pereira’s first shot for the Cottagers in the 11th minute, and was sent off six minutes later.

Robertson’s dismissal, which followed a lengthy video assistant referee review for offside, came after he miscontrolled the ball and brought down Harry Wilson in a rash attempt to atone for his initial error.

“What an absolutely stinking afternoon for Andrew Robertson,” former England striker Chris Sutton. “He had that collision earlier, then he deflected Pereira’s shot and now he’s off.”

AP at Anfield. 💥 pic.twitter.com/bUUpU8Ic2j

— Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC) December 14, 2024

Liverpool vs Fulham

Despite their promising form, few would confidently back Fulham to trouble Liverpool, who are looking for a 10th consecutive home win in all competitions.

Visiting manager Marco Silva was winless in all 10 of his previous matches against Liverpool, although his players arrived on a four-game unbeaten run away from home.

Midfielder Pereira got Antonee Robinson’s cross in behind Robertson at the far post, firing into the roof of the net to give Fulham a lead they held on to at half-time.

As part of an 18-game unbeaten run, Liverpool have won each of their previous three home games 2-0, beating Aston Villa, Real Madrid and Manchester City.

It starts quickly from @FulhamFC 🏎️

The Cottagers have opened the scoring early in each of their last three matches! pic.twitter.com/l88uaUBAZT

— Premier League (@premierleague) December 14, 2024

Robertson red card

Robertson has already received his marching orders once for Liverpool, receiving a red at Tottenham 13 minutes from time in a 2-2 draw on 19 December 2021.

As an 18-year-old, he also saw the red in the 74th minute of a Scottish League Cup match while playing for Queen’s Park in St Johnstone on 25 September 2012.

Liverpool manager Arne Slot reacted to Robertson’s departure by deploying midfielder Ryan Gravenberch as a third central defender alongside Joe Gomez and Virgil van Dijk, with striker Cody Gakpo initially on the left wing.

Sutton later suggested that Gomez took over the position from Gakpo. “I think it’s the right move,” the expert added. “It just looked really wrong with Gakpo. You wouldn’t say he’s too defensive-minded, so (Slot) is trying to fill that void.”