Arne Slot might feel inclined to send a word of gratitude to Marco Silva before Liverpool's clash with Fulham at Anfield on Saturday. The former Everton boss and his Fulham team certainly did the Reds a favor last weekend.

With Liverpool's final Merseyside league derby at Goodison Park called off due to Storm Darragh, Arsenal had the chance to narrow the gap on Slot's league leaders to just four points. However, Fulham proved to be as resilient as ever, holding the Gunners to a 1-1 stalemate at Craven Cottage.

Chelsea capitalized on this, overcoming Tottenham Hotspur 4-2 to climb to second place and position themselves as Liverpool's closest pursuers. But in general, it was a great weekend for the Reds as Manchester City could only draw with Crystal Palace too.

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The Cottagers find themselves in 10th place heading into this weekend, a mere two points adrift of fifth-placed Nottingham Forest. Despite losing both league encounters to Liverpool last term, as well as a two-legged Carabao Cup semi-final, each match was tightly contested.

Yet, Fulham will be missing five key players for their upcoming visit to Merseyside. Skipper Tom Cairney (red card) and Calvin Bassey (five yellows) are serving suspensions, while Bassey's defensive partner Joachim Andersen is sidelined with an injury, alongside Reiss Nelson and Harrison Reed.

When probed about the latest injuries, Silva disclosed in his press conference: "No fresh news, really, just Joachim and Harrison Reed, plus Reiss Nelson from the game we played against Brighton. They are going to be out for the game, and of course, the third game of Tom Cairney, plus the fifth yellow card from Calvin Bassey."

Reds manager Slot will provide a comprehensive team news update at his press conference on Friday morning, starting at 9.15am UK time (4.15am ET). However, the Dutchman has already received some positive news with both Diogo Jota and Federico Chiesa making progress in their recoveries at the AXA Training Centre.

While it's still uncertain whether the forwards will be fit for selection against Fulham, they are nearing a full return, which is timely considering Liverpool's packed fixture list this month. Liverpool will be without defenders Ibrahima Konate, Conor Bradley and Kostas Tsimikas for the clash with the Cottagers, while midfielder Alexis Mac Allister is serving a suspension.

Silva had nothing but praise for his upcoming opponent and head coach Slot. He said: "Really, really strong in any moment of the game, making life really difficult for any team that they play against. Great, in terms of the collective quality of the team, the impact of the manager, and, of course, the individual quality they have.

"I think everything together is the reason why they are on the top of the league. In the Champions League, they won six out of six, and because of that, they deserve all the credit for the way they have been playing.

"It's going to be the next one for us, a really tough game, but we have been responding well for these type of games so far this season. Even against them last season, the games at Anfield were really tight games, and the team responded really well, and let's hope we can have the same type of performance, but with a different result for us, if we can."

Liverpool.com says: Fulham will be a tough test for the Reds but it is a game that should be winnable. Silva's men have a lot of threat on the counter-attack and Slot will therefore be even more desperate than usual for his team to be in control of the game.