Second title would be so special for Fabinho
Liverpool star Fabinho admits a second Premier League title would be more special than the first as it would put Jurgen Klopp’s side “further in to football history”.
The Reds ended a 30-year wait to be crowned champions of England in July with a whopping 18-point advantage over Manchester City.
Liverpool have made light of injury problems this season to hold a four-point lead over Christmas in the chase for successive titles.
“This team will be remembered for how well we play, the quality of our football and for winning the title,” Fabinho said.
“But to fight for the second one would put us further in to football history. It would put us up there with teams in the Premier League that have won back-to-back titles. Teams like Manchester City.
“It would put us on the higher level and put us with the best teams in the history of the league.
“Taking into account all that has happened this year, it all adds to making the second title more special than the first one if we could do it.
“It would show that we have this constant desire at the club to be winners.”
Long-term injuries to Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez has forced the Brazilian midfielder to drop deeper into central defence. Yet the 27-year-old has hardly put a foot wrong since
Liverpool’s last domestic defeat, the 7-2 horror show away to Aston Villa at the start of October.
Fabinho said plans for him to play at the back had been in operation almost from the day he arrived in July, 2018.
“Back then the coach saw the need for someone to be available so I started working on that position, getting used to it, working with potential partners,” said Fabinho, who is set to make his 100th Liverpool appearance against West Brom today. “We had three centrebacks at the time so it was all just a test for me, just to be prepared. The coach had identified that there could be a need further down the line.
“So when I came in I felt good and comfortable and over time it’s got easier.
“When Virgil got injured I expected to come in as centreback and even the other players were joking. They were saying: ‘Fabinho the defender is back, he is here’.
“Yes I was nervous at first, but I think I have grown in to it.”
Sam Allardyce has stressed the starting point for his bid to get West Brom moving up the
Premier League table is to work on their defence.
Following his appointment as their new boss four days earlier, Allardyce saw the Baggies slump to a 3-0 home loss to Aston Villa in the first match of his tenure.
West Brom, second-bottom of the league with one win and seven points from 14 outings, have conceded 29 goals across those games.
Their goals for tally is 10, with just five being registered in the last 11 matches.
Ahead of today’s trip to Merseyside, Allardyce said: “You start by sorting the defence out, because if we get a clean sheet we only need one goal to win, and at this moment in time, the team is struggling to score more than one goal in a game.
“Goals have been difficult for us to come by, but clean sheets are more important to start with.
“And if you can get more goals and clean sheets at the same time, we’ll start shooting up that league a little bit better and quicker than maybe anybody expected.”
Allardyce has also emphasised the importance of having an environment at the club where people have “a laugh and a joke” with each other.
Asked how the players had been with him since he arrived, Allardyce said: “I’m not sure how they’ve taken me yet.
“I’ve cracked a few jokes and got bemused looks off one or two players as if to say, ‘ What’s the manager doing? Is he joking or is he serious?’ I have to assure them I’m having a bit of a laugh and a joke with them.
“We need to be taking the mickey out of each other, it is all a part of the right bonding to get out of trouble.”