PLAYERS AND STAFF FROM BOTH TEAMS OFFER THEIR INSIGHTS INTO SATURDAY’S LUNCHTIME KICK-OFF.
Marco Silva
“I think it’s the best way to start. The main thing for us is to play at home, be back in the Premier League with our fans with us.
“To play against one of the best teams in the world, one of the best teams in the Premier League, I think is a fantastic way to do it.
“Big respect to them, but we have to trust in ourselves and do our maximum to enjoy the challenge, and let’s see the result.”
Jurgen Klopp
“Fulham is doing really well and did last year extremely well. I met Marco at the managers meeting in London. Getting promoted by playing football is for me one of the hardest things to do in the Championship.
“They all play football, but being a real football-playing side, more possession, all these kinds of things. Set-pieces are important but not the main thing, so it gets all my respect and that’s what Fulham did.”
Antonee Robinson
“We’ve just got to go into the game confident and play our gameplan how we do, and execute that.
“We’ll be set up in a way to try and nullify Liverpool’s strengths, so hopefully we get something out of it. Opening day, anything can happen.”
Darwin Nunez
“I always say that there are no easy games at all, and the Premier League is a very competitive league full of good sides.
“Every game is a challenge and you have to go out there from the very first minute with all the desire in the world to try to win the game.
“Things can change at any moment. You can concede and then no matter how you keep trying, the other team can defend well and you find the three points slipping away.
“That would be something that would be really frustrating, of course, if you’d been trying so hard and things don’t work out in that game because of something like an unfortunate error.”
Harrison Reed
“We have all been working towards the first game of the season to make sure we’re ready.
“Every player here is ready for the first game of the season. We’re really looking forward to it.”
Pep Lijnders
“Are we ready for Fulham? We are preparing ourselves to be ready. But it’s a team full of confidence after last year, so it’s never easy.”
Aleksandar Mitrović
“It’s the first game of the season, with nothing to lose. We play one of the best teams in the world, arguably one of the best teams in Premier League history.
“A team full of big stars with an amazing manager, so it’s a big challenge for us, but we worked so hard last year to play against these players to try to challenge them.
“What a way to start the season, a home game against one of the best teams in the world.
“It’s going to be amazing, it’s going to be a lovely day, and hopefully we can be a really tough opponent, and why not try to win the game?
“That’s the target for us, try to win every game. We’re going to enjoy it, and let’s see what’s going to happen.”
