Liverpool might be favourites to bounce back against Norwich after their defeat to Manchester United last weekend, but the form of the Canaries and a few key issues for Liverpool should make this a closer encounter than the bookies anticipate. Concern continues to grow over Fenway Sports Group's ownership of the club; Liverpool's owners have released two players and so far only brought Daniel Sturridge in during a window where they were supposed to be adding to an already thin squad.
Ahead of Liverpool's clash against Fulham at Anfield here are 6 key factors you should be looking out for.
Fulham's away record
It's not really a secret that Fulham are terrible away from home and pretty hard to beat in their own backyard. In keeping with that they've not won once in the last six away games.
Liverpool have been handed a tricky tie against mega-rich Russian side, Zenit Saint Petersburg in the last 32 of the UEFA Europa League.The Merseyside club have already competed in Russia so far this season, having drawn Anzhi Makhachkala in the group stages.
According to multiple sources Liverpool have all but wrapped up deals for Daniel Sturridge and Tom Ince. That's in stark contrast to the Summer transfer window where the club left their work until the last minute and then for some strange reason packed up early, leaving Liverpool with just one proven striker.
Week by week, the story continues to drag. Liverpool's teen sensation, Raheem Sterling continues to be locked in talks with the club over a new contract. The 18-year-old has earned many plaudits for the way he has taken to the Premier League at such a young age and Liverpool are keen to tie him down to a long-term contract, as Brendan Rodgers sets about planning the future at Anfield.
You won't find a Liverpool fan who didn't find Saturday's 3-1 home loss to Aston Villa humiliating. It was a devastating loss, particularly after Liverpool had picked up three successive victories in all competitions. This was supposed to be another solid home victory as Rodgers marched his team up the table but clearly Paul Lambert and his Villa side didn't read the script.
If you believe the media reports a deal for Daniel Sturridge is all but done and the Chelsea forward will be a Liverpool player come January. However, his £12 million price tag isn't exactly great value for money for a player who can't break into the first team at his own club.
It was hardly a surprise to see a soft penalty given against the Reds this season. It's happened so many times before that you knew it was coming. It was even less surprising that Jonjo Messi wasn't awarded a stone wall penalty after a mazing run into the box that would have sealed it.
Liverpool are leading 1-0 nil against Udinese with five minutes to go. Their opponents are a man down after a sending off. The Reds had played well up to this point but missed some great chances to score, although they had restricted the home side to just a handful of chances. As it stands, they will qualify top of their group and be praised for a professional away performance in Europe.
Liverpool travel to Italy on Thursday for a Europa League showdown that will decide their fate in the competition, so we've prepared a post full of stats, squads, kick off times and more in one convenient preview.
The situation
Anzhi are Group A's leaders with 10 points and they play Young Boys who are level on points with Liverpool at seven.
Despite Liverpool's usual frailties in front of goal against a Southampton side that has conceded the most goals in the Premier league this season there can be no doubt there was an improvement in Liverpool's overall player on Saturday. A large part of that can be put down to the return of Lucas Leiva, who after months of injuries came in to make this Liverpool side more solid at the back and more adventurous going forward.
Liverpool weren't awful against Tottenham but they were nowhere near where they need to be at this point in the season. Poor defensive errors in the opening 16 minutes, combined with the form of Gareth Bale and an inability to capitalise were among the main reasons for Liverpool's loss but there are other areas where the Reds can still improve.
After a horrendous opening 16 minutes in which Liverpool conceded two completely avoidable goals they were mostly the better side for the remainder of the match against a Tottenham side who were largely poor outside of Bale and Kyle Walker at the back. All the statistics will point to Liverpool dominating proceedings but poor defensive play leading to both goals and some truly woeful finishing meant none of that mattered.
If there was one thing that would have frustrated Brendan Rodgers in an otherwise decent performance against Swansea it was the showing of Stewart Downing at left back. The left midfielder's confidence appeared so shot after a miserable time at Liverpool that any signs of the talent that netted him 8 goals and 7 assists and saw him named Aston Villa's player of the year in 2010-2011 are completely gone.
The last time these two sides met it finished 3-1 to Swansea in a game where Liverpool where largely outplayed. That was the league cup though and Liverpool fielded a second string side, so this game should be a much tighter affair.
As you would expect from a team formerly coached by Brendan Rodgers, Swansea's possession statistics are almost identical to Liverpool's.
