Fulham Q&A LIVE: What is the latest ahead of the Cottagers trip to Liverpool in the…

JOE BERNSTEIN: It tends to be feast or famine in front of goal for Fulham. Four in their last six games is a poor return but before then they banged in 16 in four matches!

That said, there is an understanding that a top-line centre-forward is a priority at some point and if the right player becomes available at the right price in January, expect movement, particularly if the club are still chasing a cup competition and aren’t automatically safe league-wise at the end of January.

Raul Jimenez is showing signs of what he can do. It took the Mexican 13 matches to register his first Fulham goal but now has four in four.

Even so, it’s a big ask for him to replace Mitrovic’s 15 goals last season on his own and it doesn’t help that his understudy, Carlos Vinicius doesn’t seem to fit into Silva’s way of playing.

The best solution would be if a buyer can be found for Vinicius, possibly abroad, and then money can be invested in helping Jimenez up front. Whether it is a first-choice No 9 or cover for the Mexican could depend on whether revenue is raised by selling Palhinha sooner rather than later.

Gent striker Gift Orban has been one name linked with the club. At 21, with 12 goals already this season, he has the potential to improve and at £20million is within Fulham’s price range.

JOE BERNSTEIN: Not at all. If anything, Silva is valued more highly inside the club than outside.

Given the praise given to Thomas Frank at Brentford or that Sean Dyche used to receive for keeping Burnley in the top flight, Silva’s achievements at Craven Cottage have been underplayed.

He got Fulham promoted into the Premier League in his first season and they defied predictions they’d go straight back down by finishing 10th.

Even though their league placing is lower this season, they are a comfortable nine points above the bottom three and into a cup semi-final. Remember, Fulham have never won a major trophy in their history.

There is a special relationship between Silva and owner Shaheed Khan who personally flew to Portugal to recruit Silva when Fulham were in The Championship.

He’s a popular figure around the club, cutting a more relaxed figure than the sometimes spiky persona he shows in front of the camera, and stayed in west London despite overtures from the Saudis last summer.

Any manager is only one set of bad results away from a crisis but right now there is full confidence with Silva who has also had to replace the goals of Aleksandr Mitrovic this season.

JOE BERNSTEIN: There is definitely a grown-up acceptance from the club that the player will leave Craven Cottage at some point to further his personal ambitions.

It could well be in January, certainly Fulham have been looking at potential replacements, from Braziian Andre from Fluminense to Kalvin Phillips.

There is no doubt Palhinha would have gone to Bayern Munich last summer had Marco Silva found an adequate replacement but Tottenham’s Pierre-Emile Hjobjerg didn’t want to join, hence Palhinha wasn’t allowed to leave.

Whether Palhinha stays or goes this month will come down to figures. He was given a more lucrative contract earlier this season to soften the blow of missing out on Bayern but the long-term deal means Fulham are reluctant to let him go for less than the £65million the German club offered a few months ago.

Given Palhinha is 28 and operates as a defensive midfielder, there aren’t a lot of clubs who will pay that. Liverpool and Barcelona are both admirers of the Portuguese international for example but not at that price.

Manchester City and Arsenal could probably afford it but are well-stocked in that position with Rodri and Declan Rice.

The best-case scenario for all parties is that Bayern come back in with the offer they made in the summer. It’s possible but if it doesn’t happen, Fulham may have to drop the asking price for a deal to be done this month – or Palhinha will have to wait until the summer to get his big move.

JOE BERNSTEIN: There are a few reasons why Fulham should be cautiously optimistic besides Liverpool’s best two players being out.

Jurgen Klopp has other absentees as well including his two specialist left-backs Andy Robertson and Kostas Tsimikas and Fulham can gain confidence from their last trip to Anfield at the start of December. Though they lost a rip-roarer 4-3, Fulham were leading until the final few minutes.

I don’t think Marco Silva’s men will be overawed. One of his players, Wales international Harry Wilson, will always feel like he’s got a point to prove against the club where he started his career.

They have experienced big-game players like Raul Jimenez and Willian to exploit any Liverpool defincies, particularly down the right flank where Salah and Alexander-Arnold usually excel.

The only cloud on the horizon for the Londoners is that while Salah and Wataru Endo are on international duty, so too are a couple of important Fulham players, Calvin Bassey and Alex Iwobi. Their replacements will also have do the business.

We’ll have JOE BERNSTEIN’S answers coming in around five minutes ahead of tonight’s blockbuster clash.

That gives us just enough time to really take in this beauty of a goal of the month for Fulham from Raul Jimenez.

The chest control, the strength and then the back heel!

What a strike it was, coming in that 5-0 win over Nottingham Forest in early December.

It’s been an up-and-down last month or so for the Cottagers to say the least.

After 13 goals in the first three games of December, it looked like Marco Silva’s side had got something of their mojo back from last season, but since that point the goals have dried up a touch.

Just four goals have come in the last six, including three defeats without a goal, made for trying reading, but important wins over Everton in the Carabao Cup (1-1, 7-6 on pens), Arsenal in the league (2-1) and Rotherham in the FA Cup (1-0) have given supports more to cheer about.

A big result here tonight, as De Cordova-Reid has called for, could make the December-January period suddenly look a whole lot healthier…

As we’ve said, it’s a huge night for Fulham.

A first ever Carabao semi awaits at arguably one of the toughest grounds to go to in Europe.

Forward Bobby De Cordova-Reid has spoken about the importance of getting a result that his side can defend when they’re back in front of their home crowd.

What do you rate their odds tonight against Liverpool?

Good afternoon everyone and welcome to our LIVE Fulham Q&A!

It’s a massive, massive game tonight at Anfield, with Fulham into the last-four of the Carabao Cup for the first time ever, where they find Liverpool waiting.

We’ll be getting answers to the most burning questions concerning the Cottagers from Mail Sport’s very own JOE BERNSTEIN shortly, so sit back and join us as we run through what’s going on at Craven Cottage!