Paul Merson fears that Brighton attacker Glenn Murray will target Liverpool midfielder Fabinho when the two sides clash on Saturday.
The Sky Sports pundit revealed that the 25-year-old Brazilian will possibly be chosen to play at centre-back against the Seagulls after witnessing Dejan Lovren limp off injured in the 2-1 defeat to Wolves on Monday.
Merson shared that while Fabinho may be able to cope with playing at centre-back due to playing alongside Virgil Van Dijk, it wouldn’t stop Murray potentially targeting him during the clash.
“Yeah he (Fabinho) might have to go play there (central defence) he will be playing alongside one of the best centre-halves in the world in Van Dijk which will help cause he can get you through the game,” said Merson on Sky Sports’ The Debate (Sky Sports Premier League, 22:33, Monday January 7).
“But Murray will be licking his lips really as he’ll think I can just go back on him and they’ll be getting the ball to Murray and he’ll be holding it up, so it’s a big massive game that you tick off, that you keep on ticking them off.”
OPINION
Fabinho’s cool and composed display as a central defender against Wolves was one of the few positives to take from that match, so Merson may be underestimating how well the 25-year-old may fare in that position. While it maybe true that the Brazilian is more suited to being the Reds’ midfield anchor, he should be good enough to playing in Jurgen Klopp’s defence for a few games. However it seems very logical that an attacker of Murray’s ability will look to target Fabinho and try to expose him as a potential weakness that he can exploit. The Reds have to keep their wits about them when attempting to stop the 35-year-old forward as he has managed to score eights times already this season. The best case scenario for Liverpool and Fabinho if he does get the nod to play as a centre-back on Saturday is if he makes some notable tackles or blocks in the opening stages of the match to let Murray know that he won’t be a potential player he can take advantage of.
