Ben Guest
Jurgen Klopp has described summer signing Fabinho as ‘a brilliant player’ after he comfortably slotted into central defence amid an injury crisis at the back for Liverpool.
With a whole host of central defenders ruled out of yesterday’s clash with Brighton, Klopp was forced to reposition the defensive midfielder into the heart of defence alongside Virgil van Dijk.
However, he slotted in nicely, bringing the ball out from the back well, as well as dealing with the Seagulls long balls in towards Glenn Murray, and speaking after the game, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp was delighted with the way his makeshift centre-half played.
“Fabinho is a brilliant player,” Klopp said in his post-match press conference. “To have a good footballer in that position when you have the ball is great.
“It was not one attack after another, we had the ball most of the time.
“But Brighton tried to bring the long balls around Glenn Murray, like with Joe Gomez in the home game – but he did well in these situations as well.
“He has a defensive brain and can play in a lot of positions.”
Liverpool’s win re-opens their seven point advantage to Man City at the top of the Premier League table, who don’t play until Monday night against Wolves.