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Michael Owen has topped the praise for Liverpool star Fabinho after the Brazilian delivered an impeccable performance on his return to midfield in the Reds’ 2-0 win over RB Leipzig.
Fabinho, 27, has had to settle as a center midfielder for much of the season due to long-term injuries to Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez, before being ruled out for several weeks with a muscle injury.
The Brazilian returned to play in the central half against Chelsea and was introduced as a substitute in Sunday’s loss to Fulham, but Klopp opted to use his star man in a deep midfield role for the trip to Budapest.
Fabinho hasn’t played in that position since October, but he felt right at home in his natural role, protecting the inexperienced central duo of Ozan Kabak and Nat Phillips with ease when the Reds booked their place in the Champions League quarterfinals. .
And Owen has described how ‘heartwarming’ it is to see Fabinho return to his midfielder role, with the former Liverpool star praising the Brazilian.
“It’s so heartwarming to watch,” Owen said on BT Sport. When he’s in the middle, you feel safe.
“It is very comforting to have him back in his correct position. This is how you want a sitting midfielder, he covers the two in the back, which is the weak part of the team. ”
Rio Ferdinand and Peter Crouch echoed the praise of the former England striker, and former Manchester United star Ferdinand highlighted how critical Fabinho is to propping up the defense.
“It gives the defenders confidence because it prevents the ball from going into the forwards, cuts the lines,” he said.
“So let the defenders get down a little bit to stop the ball from behind because they’re not worried about the ball at their feet.”
“He’s in the right positions at the right time,” Crouch added. His touch is so good. He has done a good job in the central half, but the biggest fault has been having him out of midfield.
“When Henderson comes back, that will make a big difference.”
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, while reveling in the performance of his team as a whole, singled out Fabinho in praise after the impressive victory.
‘I said to him as I came down the stairs’ you like position six more, you couldn’t show it more clearly’.
We all love Fab at six. Tonight he played there and the middle two halves played an amazing game, the whole bottom line played an amazing game.
“We had to pressure them, they had to play these long balls quite uncontrolled and we defended deeply and very well together.”
Liverpool will return to Premier League action next Monday when they travel to Molineux to face Nuno Espirito Santo’s Wolves, with the trip to the West Midlands offering a welcome distraction to their struggles at Anfield.
The Premier League champions are winless in six games at their Merseyside home.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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