Liverpool Seek First Premier League Victory Under Iraola
Anfield waits. The goals are flowing, the wins are not. That is the tension Andoni Iraola walks into on Saturday as Liverpool chase their first Premier League victory of the season under their new head coach, with Fulham the visitors and the margin for patience already thinning.
Liverpool seek lift-off
Liverpool have not lacked punch. They have scored at least twice in every league game so far, a statistic that usually screams “top of the table” rather than “still looking for a first win”. Yet draws at Anfield have dulled the early weeks of the Iraola era, even as Europe has offered a glimpse of what this side might become.
The midweek Champions League win over Atletico Madrid did more than steady the mood. It underlined the attacking layers Iraola is trying to build: Alexander Isak leading the line, a fluid three behind him, and Liverpool’s familiar intensity reshaped rather than abandoned.
Fulham arrive with no points and plenty of credit. Three league games, three defeats, each by a single goal. Iraola did not bother to dress it up.
“Fulham have been so good in each of their league matches this season,” he said, highlighting the fine margins that have gone against Saturday’s opponents. It is respect with a warning attached: this is not the soft touch their record suggests.
Selection puzzles and tight muscles
The Liverpool treatment room has not emptied in time for this one. Conor Bradley, Giovanni Leoni, Hugo Ekitike, Joe Gomez and Federico Chiesa are all still out, trimming Iraola’s options in both defence and attack.
Cody Gakpo is a doubt with an adductor issue, his involvement hanging on late assessments. Bradley Barcola and Milos Kerkez both needed treatment for cramp in the win over Atletico Madrid. The club do not believe either has suffered anything more serious, but their minutes will be monitored carefully.
If Gakpo and Barcola do not make it, the door opens again for Victor Munoz. The winger is ready to step in on the flank, expected to operate alongside Florian Wirtz and Rio Ngumoha in the trio supporting Isak.
Isak himself stands on the verge of a small but telling milestone. One more goal on Saturday and he will already have surpassed his tally for the whole of last season. For a striker, that kind of marker matters. For Liverpool, it would be another sign that their new attacking spine is hardening.
How Liverpool could line up
Iraola is likely to stick with his 4-2-3-1 framework, the shape that has given Liverpool both control and vertical threat:
Liverpool possible XI: Alisson; Ronald Araujo, Jacquet, Virgil van Dijk, Kostas Tsimikas; Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai; Victor Munoz, Florian Wirtz, Rio Ngumoha; Alexander Isak.
The double pivot of Mac Allister and Szoboszlai will again be asked to do the heavy lifting: start the press, recycle possession, and feed a front four that has already shown it can hurt teams from multiple angles.
Kick-off details
The game kicks off at 15:00 on Saturday, 12 September 2026, at Anfield. As it falls inside the traditional Saturday 3pm blackout, it will not be shown live on television in the UK.
So the stage is set. Goals have come easily; wins have not. If Liverpool finally turn those home draws into three points, this could be the afternoon when Iraola’s project stops being a theory and starts to look like a genuine Premier League force.
