Speaking on the Sky Sports Football Podcast, Jamie Carragher has expressed his surprise that Fabinho didn’t start against Atletico Madrid this week.
Liverpool managed to beat the La Liga champions 3-2 earlier this week, but the victory certainly wasn’t a straightforward one for the Reds.
Indeed, Liverpool threw away a two-goal lead on Tuesday at the Wanda Metropolitano and at one point it looked as though they were going to capitulate completely.
Luckily for the Reds, they managed to rally in the second half, but Carragher was stunned that Klopp chose to leave Fabinho out of his starting XI for this clash.
What’s been said?
Carragher was speaking about Tuesday night’s game.
“I must say that I was massively surprised that he didn’t start in Madrid, I thought it was the perfect game for him, also the fact he didn’t play against Watford meant he was more rested than the others, so I was really surprised he didn’t start the game and that had a bearing on Atletico coming back in that first half. Klopp fixed that and I have no doubt whatsoever that Fabinho will be in the heart of midfield at Old Trafford.”
Vital player
Liverpool have some amazing talent in their squad, but Fabinho is undoubtedly amongst their most important players.
Virgil van Dijk may be the best defender in the world and Mohamed Salah is certainly one of the best players on the planet right now, but without Fabinho, this team isn’t the superpower we’ve known it to be for so long.
The Brazilian isn’t flashy, he’ll rarely be the Man of the Match, but he never ever puts a foot wrong and Liverpool are always a better team when he’s on the pitch.
He wasn’t picked on Tuesday, which, as Carragher says, was a surprising decision, but we would be absolutely stunned if he wasn’t in the starting 11 to face Manchester United this weekend.
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