Jurgen Klopp hints Fabinho will make his first Liverpool start tonight

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Liverpool’s Fabinho may be in line for a start this evening.

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has told The Mirror that he thinks Fabinho is a ‘fantastic’ player – and hinted that he could feature against Red Star Belgrade tonight.

The Reds beat Huddersfield Town 1-0 on Saturday evening thanks to Mohamed Salah’s goal, and must now turn their attentions back to the Champions League.

After beating Paris Saint-Germain 3-2 in their first group stage game, Liverpool lost 1-0 at Napoli last time out, and will want to avoid a shock defeat tonight.

Liverpool host Serbian side Red Star at Anfield, and will be looking to take advantage of PSG and Napoli playing each other by claiming all three points and putting themselves back in a strong position to qualify for the knockout stages.

Klopp faces some selection dilemmas ahead of the game, and it may now be the right time to finally unleash summer signing Fabinho for the first time.

The Brazilian anchor man, who turned 25 yesterday, has yet to start a single competitive game for Liverpool since his summer move from Monaco, with fans baffled over his absence.

Klopp was asked about Fabinho on Monday, and praised him as a ‘fantastic’ addition, who is strong in the tackle, good going forward and defensively, quick and good in the air amongst other things, before adding a hint that a start tonight would be a nice birthday present for Fabinho.

“We already made the decision he is the right player, yes — when we signed him. He has the qualities, all the qualities,” said Klopp. “Hard challenges. Good offensively, defensively. Quick. Good shooter. Fantastic set-pieces. Good header… all these things. Good strategically too, in the right moment. He’s just a fantastic addition and can improve us from a specific moment on.”

“Yes, it’s clear. It’s his birthday by the way. So it would be a nice present, eh? It’s got better and better from him and now it’s good. I didn’t decide how we will start but of course it is very important for us he’s here for a few months already, got used to a few things… so we will use him,” he added.