Jurgen Klopp is determined to keep Liverpool's sights set on Fulham despite a huge clash with Tottenham looming on the horizon.
The champions visit struggling Fulham on Sunday but then face a quick turnaround to be ready for Wednesday's game against Spurs.
Liverpool and leaders Tottenham are separated only by goal difference heading into the weekend, but Klopp insists his side cannot afford to take their eye off the Cottagers.
"I hope none of my players will think about Tottenham," he said.
"The situation is like it is at the top of the table, as it is elsewhere, in that there is not a lot of distance between teams. We know that, I don't have to tell the boys that.
"Fulham are a really good football-playing side, the performances they have shown are not always rewarded with results. But the fight for staying in the league is also close.
"If you let them play, they will play. The more you let them play, the more you have to defend; the more you have to defend, the more you run."
Just as Liverpool were last weekend as they beat Wolves, Fulham will be boosted by the return of supporters to Craven Cottage.
"I think it'll have a massive impact, to be fair," Scott Parker said.
"We're fortunate enough that we can have fans in our stadium this weekend and we're looking forward to it.
"During a massive part of our season, after lockdown and getting promotion, the fans weren't there to enjoy it with the team and it probably lost a little something from that in terms of the memories."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Fulham - Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa
Zambo Anguissa has impressed on his and Fulham's return to the Premier League but results have not yet followed. The midfielder has completed the most dribbles in the top flight this season (38), yet he has ended on the losing side in 73 per cent of his career appearances in the competition (24 of 33), with only former Sunderland and Ipswich Town man Tommy Miller losing a higher percentage (76 per cent) among players with 30-plus games.
Liverpool - Georginio Wijnaldum
After a fine strike at home to Wolves last week, Wijnaldum will be looking for a rare away goal. He has played exactly 95 times in both home and away Premier League games, netting 23 goals from 143 shots (16.1 per cent conversion) at home but just three goals from 85 shots (3.5 percent conversion) away.
KEY OPTA FACTS
- None of Fulham's 14 Premier League home games against Liverpool have finished level, with the Cottagers winning just five to the Reds' nine.
- Liverpool have won their past six Premier League meetings with Fulham by an aggregate score of 18-4 since losing both meetings against them in the 2011-12 campaign.
- Fulham have lost their past six home Premier League matches played on Sunday, with only Aston Villa losing more in a row in home games on Sundays in the competition's history (seven in a row between 2015 and 2020).
- Parker has lost 15 of his 21 Premier League matches as a manager (71.4 per cent), the second-highest ratio of any manager with 20-plus games, behind Roy McFarland (72.7 per cent, lost 16 of 22). Klopp's past 15 Premier League defeats in charge of Liverpool have been spread over a period of 161 matches.
- Klopp has won 16 of his 26 away Premier League matches in London (61.5 per cent), the best win ratio of any manager to take charge of at least 10 away games in the capital.
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