Former England international Paul Robinson has been blown away by the performance of Liverpool midfielder Fabinho against Manchester City on Sunday.
The 26-year-old was superb as Jurgen Klopp’s men charged to a hugely impressive 3-1 victory over the champions at Anfield, and Sky Sports pundit Robinson was wowed by the Brazilian.
“I think all of [the] Liverpool players stood out but I thought Fabinho was outstanding,” he told Football Insider. “I’ve admired him all season and I think he proved his worth at the weekend, Klopp keeps changing those three in midfield, but Fabinho seems to be the one who stays in.
“I think he is the key, the defensive linchpin of those three midfielders, and he’s the first name on his teamsheet. Everyone knows his defensive capabilities and with Fernandinho he is probably the best defensive midfielder in the Premier League, but he just showed that he has an extra string to his bow by popping up with a goal. He’s not just a one-dimensional player, he has so many attributes to his game.”
OPINION
There’s no doubt that Fabinho was one of the best Liverpool players on Sunday, and has been throughout the season. As Robinson says, Klopp seems to constantly be rotating his three man central midfield, but it’s always the Brazilian who stays at the base of the triangle. The former Monaco man showed what he was all about with an all-action performance that demonstrated that he can do a bit of everything. Ostensibly a defensive-minded player, it was Fabinho who opened the scoring with a stunning strike from distance. A cursory look at the statistics from Sunday’s game tells you all you need to know about how dominant the Brazil international was against Pep Guardiola’s side. As per WhoScored.com, Fabinho had two shots – one being the goal – and completed one successful dribble. Also, he made a tackle and two interceptions on his way to a 7.53 WhoScored rating, a tally bettered only by Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane in Liverpool red.
