The Brazilian made his second start for the club in Liverpool’s 4-0 win over Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League.
Liverpool’s Andy Robertson singled out Fabinho on Wednesday evening after the midfielder made his second start for the club against Red Star Belgrade.
The 4-0 win for the Reds saw good performances from everyone on the pitch but Fabinho did stand out for his ability in breaking up the play alongside Gini Wijnaldum.
“Fabinho comes in for his second start, after the Chelsea League Cup game, but I thought he was magnificent tonight,” Robertson told Sky Sports.
“I thought he was really top quality, him and Gini in the middle.”
And the Scotland captain was quick to mention another advantage of Fabinho’s performance – the squad depth the club now has in midfield.
“When we’ve got key players like Milly [James Milner] sitting on the bench with Ads [Adam Lallana], and Naby [Keita] & Hendo [Jordan Henderson] are out, that shows how much quality we’ve got. The boys that came in have done really well, which probably shows how good our squad is.”
The midfield was clearly an area that Liverpool targeted in the summer, bringing in Fabinho and Keita, as well as attempting a deal for Lyon’s Nabil Fekir.
The long-term injury to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and departure of Emre Can will certainly have forced their hand a little there but the return of Lallana, alongside the new signings, has given Liverpool a dimension that they lacked last year.
Both Xherdan Shaqiri and Roberto Firmino have shown their ability to drop into deeper roles, too, allowing Jurgen Klopp to be a lot more flexible with both his rotation and his shape.
The game against Red Star saw Liverpool use more of a 4-2-3-1, for instance – something rarely seen last year but great performances from all the forwards showed off the new weapon for Klopp.
And it’s the luxury of bringing in a solid defensive midfielder like Fabinho that gives him that.
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