Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
NOW HE’S FAB All OVER
After struggling to get a game £44m Brazilian has become a key man.. in midfield AND defence
AFTER not featuring in the first 10 weeks of Liverpool’s Premier League campaign, Fabinho has suddenly become crucial to their title bid.
Jurgen Klopp will ask the Brazilian to help out in defence because Dejan Lovren’s hamstring injury means Virgil van Dijk is his only fit centre-half.
Klopp deployed Fabinho at the heart of Liverpool’s defence in their FA Cup defeat at Wolves on Monday and the midfielder adapted well.
Fabinho’s stock has risen in recent weeks after a long spell on the fringes at Anfield.
Klopp felt the player needed time to acclimatise to English football following his £43.7million summer switch from Monaco.
He didn’t make his first Premier League start until late October but has now played in 12 topflight games for the Reds.
Fabinho, 25, is expected to feature in his 13th at Brighton on Saturday because Liverpool’s other two recognised centrehalves, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip, are crocked.
Gomez is around 10 days to two weeks away from returning from a fractured lower left leg and Matip is not expected back until later this month after a broken collarbone.
The defensive injury crisis adds to the pressure on the Reds following their first back-toback defeats of the season, but Swiss forward Xherdan Shaqiri is confident the Reds can cope. “We have enough players who can jump in,” said the 27-year-old, who went so close to scoring at Molineux on Monday when his second-half free-kick crashed against a post.
“We have the depth. There are a lot of players who are going to come in and give everything – the quality is still there.”
Lovren (above) hurt his hamstring after just five minutes of Liverpool’s defeat at Wolves and was expected to have a scan yesterday. Klopp claimed there were no tell-tale signs before the game at Molineux that the injuryprone defender was going to break down again.
“It was out of the blue,” said Klopp. “There were no signs before. I asked everybody – nothing.”
At least the timing of the injury crisis has been kind for Liverpool.
The league leaders play only three more games this month – at Brighton on Saturday followed by homes games against Crystal Palace and Leicester – so Klopp has ruled out signing another defender in the transfer window.
He claims Liverpool would not be able to get the calibre of player they would want and is confident Gomez and Matip will soon be back to increase his options.