Fulham’s opening day draw with Liverpool not only bucked a trend that has plagued their last two top-flight campaigns but has already led some pundits to re-evaluate their survival chances.
While the Cottagers avoided losing at home in the first game of the season at the third attempt, it was their tenacious approach against Jurgen Klopp’s much-fancied side that brought the most cause for optimism.
Players showed no fear and were at Liverpool from the first minute – not in a haphazard, chaotic way but calculated, precise and efficient – the attitude you’d normally expect from Klopp’s men.
Fulham were undoubtedly assisted by a lazy Liverpool performance with the generally imperious Virgil van Dijk particularly looking off the pace and cavalier at times.
The Dutch defender was continually harassed by Fulham’s new signings Joao Palhinha and Andreas Pereira, backed up by the omnipresent Harrison Reed.
At the other end, everything was glued together by an Aleksandar Mitrovic masterclass in hold-up play with Fulham fans not only excited by his brace but by his consummate attitude throughout.
Speaking after the game, Fulham head coach Marco Silva said: “I know the quality Mitro (Mitrovic ) has. I’m here to get the best out of my players and we’re continuing with that from last season with all of them.
“Of course, he has his own profile as a football player, but we have to keep believing he will produce his best, but Mitro is not just about goals.
“If someone thinks Mitro is just about goals, forget it. The job he did this afternoon was for the team – his pressure, helping the midfielders, helping the back line and after if you leave it for him, he’ll score.”
Before the game, there were the usual voices talking about the inevitable immediate return to the Championship but, despite the Premier League presenting enormous challenges every day, the performance will have subdued some of those sceptics.
Games against potential relegation rivals such as Leeds, who have lost two of their best players in Raphinha and Kalvin Phillips, West London rivals Brentford and also Bournemouth will be crucial and, should any of those sides hit rocky patches, Fulham will need to capitalise.
A defensive unit of Tosin Adarabioyo, Kenny Tete, Kevin Mbabu, Antonee Robinson, Shane Duffy and Issa Diop is, on paper, unlikely to be the worst defence in the league with the game against Liverpool proving Silva can quickly facilitate new signings into his uncompromising style of play.
Silva’s last Premier League stint as Everton boss saw him spend around £200m on transfer targets. Richarlison was one success story, but £30m was also spent on Alex Iwobi and £25m on Jean-Philippe Gbamin, who managed just three games for the Portuguese manager.
The Fulham boss has not received the same level of financial backing from the owners as he did at Goodison Park and made it clear before the Liverpool game he is not yet satisfied with the tools at his disposal.
“We, as a squad, are not ready. These players, they are ready,” Silva said.
“I have to tell you, and I don’t want to speak for too much time about the situation, I want to be clear with you; now we have 16 senior players in our squad.
“No one competes at this level with 16 senior players in your squad. I will tell you something else as well…No-one can prepare for one season with just two central defenders. We have two central defenders at this level.”
However, Fulham’s owners have learnt the hard way that throwing money at a problem does not necessarily solve it, and Silva will do well to heed this lesson.
Nevertheless, he has still managed to plug holes in last season’s Championship-winning side, with more personnel expected to arrive before the window shuts.
READ MORE: Fulham are promoted to the Premier League – but what could their squad look like next season?
Of his business so far, signing Bernd Leno from Arsenal for £8m looks a very shrewd move, as does £20m for the former Sporting Lisbon midfielder and new fan favourite Joao Palhinha, who covered every blade of grass against Liverpool.
Even Pereira, who cost Fulham around £10m, made a case to squash his unsolicited Manchester United nickname of ‘pre-season Pirlo’.
As the season opener approached, Fulham fans were wincing at the thought of Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez going up against 34-year-old centre back Tim Ream. But the captain on the day more than held his nerve against a truly world class attack.
Although Diop’s arrival for £15m on a five-year deal is likely to see Ream reduced to a more cameo role going forward, the performance against Liverpool proves he still has much to offer in the way of experience and composure.
Put it all together and Fulham fans certainly have more than one reason to believe things could be different this time around.
Hedging your bets this early would be an exercise in futility, but Silva and his team could settle the nerves of the Fulham faithful much earlier than anticipated if they do what they did against Liverpool every week.