Paul Merson has branded Jurgen Klopp’s decision to not start Fabinho against Manchester United as shocking as the Reds suffered a 2-1 defeat to their league rivals at Old Trafford.
The absence of the Brazilian international in the middle of the park was plain for all to see as the visitors’ midfield was outworked for much of the proceedings.
“I was shocked that Fabinho didn’t start against Man United. He should’ve been the first name on the team sheet. He’s definitely starting this game,” the Englishman told Sportskeeda. “You don’t need two defensive midfielders against Bournemouth, and I think Fabinho will play in his position with Van Dijk and Gomez behind him.”
The No.3 had drawn some criticism for his early performances in the season, though there seemed to be a total lack of coverage ahead of the backline that Erik ten Hag’s men gleefully exploited.
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The decision from Klopp was understandable given our current injury woes in midfield, though it’s a risk we’ll have to persist with lest we wish to incur further worrying results between now and the end of August (and start of September) when key men are expected to return to full team training.
There are far more challenging decisions to be made beyond our midfield anchor, of course, as we look to inject some energy and structure into a department that has been lacking much of both of late.
Here at Empire, we expect to a certain degree that Jordan Henderson and Harvey Elliott will join Fabinho in the midfield three, though a gamble on both exciting Liverpool youngsters in Fabio Carvalho and his fellow former Fulham Academy graduate also remains an enticing possibility.