It wasn’t a great showing from Liverpool in their 2-0 win over Fulham, but it was enough to move back to the top of the table, until Manchester City’s game.

The Reds were a little slow in the attack and we needed a bit of luck in getting the first goal of the game.

Mohamed Salah got the goal before half-time and Xherdan Shaqiri made the points safe with a brilliant volley after the break.

Fulham had their chances but those were few and far in between after the break. The Reds head off into the international break unbeaten in the Premier League, and here are the five talking points from the clash.

1) Xherdan Shaqiri needs more starts

It wasn’t a surprise seeing Shaqiri start, especially after not playing in midweek. The Swiss midfielder got a goal in the second half but was the spark in our attack.

Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino were marshalled well by the Fulham defence and the former Stoke man was the creative influence in the first half.

Klopp might not prefer playing with a creative midfielder often but in a season where our attack isn’t firing, Shaqiri should start more often.

2) Liverpool still grinding out results

This was another game that we could have lost in another season. Fulham started brightly and Ryan Sessegnon had the best chance of the game but shot wide.

The Aleksandar Mitrovic header that was ruled out could have stood on another day, but we kept going. Liverpool weren’t great but we not only deserved the three points after the 90 minutes, we also kept yet another clean sheet too.

3) Players get fit at the wrong time

Jordan Henderson and Naby Keita returned to the team and got a few minutes off the bench in the win. However, it would have been better if we somehow kept them away from the side.

The international break ruined Keita’s time with the Reds last time around, and he only got fit for this game.

The same applies to Henderson, and hopefully, neither player travels with their international teams and remains with Liverpool ahead of a busy fixture list.

4) Quick thinking from Alisson

The Brazilian keeper looked shaky at the start of the game and looked really upset after Mitrovic’s header was ruled out.

However, he was quick with a free-kick and launched Liverpool’s attack that got us the opener. This is one reason why we brought someone like Alisson into the team.

The keeper can start attacks and although he wasn’t great with his hands today. Hopefully, he can keep more clean sheets and be an outlet for our forwards.

5) Our defence comes out on top, again

Apart from a couple of quality chances to the away side, our defence held fort really well. Alisson had an iffy start to the game and Joe Gomez also have a chance away to Sessegnon but the back four did well as a unit.

Trent Alexander-Arnold wasn’t great in the first half but had a hand in our opener. Andy Robertson was excellent down the left and Virgil van Dijk was brilliant.

Read more: Jurgen Klopp claims winning the Premier League could be considered as a success for Liverpool

Liverpool have a defence that is as good as any in the Premier League. Although our attack isn’t firing, our defence is winning us games.