Dimitar Berbatov scored his 14th goal of the season but a Daniel Sturridge hat-trick saw Fulham sink to a 3-1 home defeat to Liverpool.

Berbatov nodded home Sascha Riether’s cross just after the half-hour mark to put the Whites in front, but Liverpool levelled three minutes later when Sturridge fired past Mark Schwarzer.

On the hour mark, Mark Halsey then turned down a seemingly blatant penalty when Lucas Leiva appeared to handle Bryan Ruiz’s cross, before Sebastian Coates got away with what looked like a clip on Alexander Kačaniklić as the youngster looked to go clear.

Liverpool went down the other end and scored when Sturridge slotted past Schwarzer and the striker missed two more good chances before grabbing his third with five minutes left with a neat lob over the Fulham goalkeeper.

Jol made three changes to the side that lost 4-2 at home to Reading last weekend. Aaron Hughes replaced Philippe Senderos at centre-half, Kieran Richardson came in for John Arne Riise at left-back and former Liverpool youngster Kačaniklić was preferred to Urby Emanuelson on the left flank.

Liverpool made the early running and Brede Hangeland make a good block to stop a Jonjo Shelvey shot on five minutes, with Riether later taking the ball off the Reds midfielder’s toes as he threatened to jink his way through.

Schwarzer then pushed away a fierce drive from Philippe Coutinho, before the injured Richardson limped off to be replaced by Emanuelson in the 15th minute.

The best Fulham attack of the the opening stages came when Kačaniklić skipped past a couple of Liverpool defenders down the right but sent his cross a couple of yards too far in front of Berbatov. On the half-hour mark, Eyong Enoh sent a dipping half-volley straight at Pepe Reina after a Giorgos Karagounis cross had only been cleared as far as the Cameroon international.

Two minutes later the Whites were in front. Ruiz did well to find Duff on the right and the Irishman played a short pass to the overlapping Riether with the German’s cross inch-perfect for the unmarked Berbatov to nod home from five yards.

Three minutes later, Liverpool were level. A Fulham break broke down in the Liverpool box and the Reds swiftly counter-attached with Sturridge showing Hughes a clean pair of heels and firing a fierce shot past Schwarzer.

Ruiz was pulling the strings in midfield and Fulham were nearly back in front in the 40th minute when another Riether cross was almost met by Berbatov. The Bulgarian was just beaten to the delivery by Jamie Carragher with the ball going off the Liverpool man and inches wide of the near post.

Liverpool made a change for the start of the second half with Andre Wisdom replaced by Jose Enrique in a switch that saw them revert from a 3-5-2 formation. And the substitute created an early chance for Sturridge, sending in a cross which the striker headed over the bar from eight yards.

Glen Johnson went into the book in the 52nd minute for a lunge on Enoh, before Kačaniklić dragged a shot wide of the far post after picking up the ball in the midfield of the park. The same Fulham player then danced his way through a herd of Liverpool men but saw his run eventually ended by a Carragher tackle. On the hour mark, a Ruiz shot was deflected just wide, before the Costa Rican weaved his way into box and saw strong penalty claims for handball by Leiva waved away by Halsey.

Coates then appeared to catch Kačaniklić as the youngster looked to go clear and latch onto a long ball from Karagounis - Halsey again waved play on - and Liverpool went straight down the other end and scored when Coutinho’s pass was deflected into the path of Strurridge who slotted past Schwarzer.

The Fulham fans and players were furious at the two decisions that had gone against the Whites and Schwarzer then made a superb stop to prevent Sturridge from claiming a third on 63 minutes after a slip from Hangeland.

Five minutes later, Liverpool again broke – it was three against one – but, with Shelvey and Coutinho waiting for the pass, Sturridge went for goal and, once more, Schwarzer made a brilliant stop.

Jol made his second change on 71 minutes, with Mladen Petrić coming on for Kačaniklić, before Shelvey saw a shot blocked by Riether when he should really have done better after being found in space inside the area.

Berbatov forced Reina to tip the ball around the post after being presented with the ball by Jordan Henderson and, from the resulting corner, the Liverpool keeper made a superb save to keep out Hughes’ header.

It was almost game over in the 79th minute when Reds substitute Fabio Borini cut in from the left but saw his curling effort hit the inside of the far post and Schwarzer then saved well from Coutinho as Liverpool’s pace continued to cause the Fulham backline problems.

Jol’s final change saw former Liverpool defender Riise replace Karagounis. Riise’s first touch saw him smack a free-kick past the wall only to see it held by Reina.

But Sturridge made sure of the points for Liverpool when he latched onto Coutinho’s pass and lobbed the onrushing Schwarzer.