Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp has praised defensive midfielder Fabinho following his stand out performance during the Merseyside derby on Sunday.
The Brazil international made his tenth appearance for the Reds since his £40m move from French giants AS Monaco, starting for just the fourth time in the Premier League.
Despite a shaky start to life in the north-west, Fabinho put in a commanding display alongside Georginio Wijnaldum at Anfield last weekend and manager Klopp claims that Sunday's performance was exactly what he expects from the 25-year-old.
"I don’t judge it on big steps or small steps, it was just a good performance from him. It was exactly what I expected," Klopp said, quoted by the club's official website. "So far, Gini and Fabinho have worked really well together on the defending side.
"Nobody so far could really deny [Everton’s] build-up like we did, and they’ve played away at Chelsea. That was really brilliant.
"You have to be in the right spaces and that looked really good. On the other side, playing football was good. It can be better like it always can be, but he was calm on the ball and it was a really good performance."
Klopp went on to stress that Fabinho will now have to adapt to playing as a lone defensive midfielder, a position he often played during a five-year spell with Monaco, as opposed to partnering Wijnaldum.
The Brazilian will be hoping that he can retain his place in the starting lineup on Wednesday when Liverpool make the short trip to Burnley, but Jordan Henderson will return to the squad when they travel to Turf Moor.
Source :
90min
