Former Tottenham Hotspur forward Garth Crooks has praised Liverpool midfielder Fabinho’s performance at centre-back against Brighton.
The Reds were left with only one senior recognised centre-back in Virgil van Dijk for the game against Brighton as Dejan Lovren and Joe Gomez were out injured, while Joel Matip was not match fit and only made the bench.
Jurgen Klopp decided to use Fabinho alongside Van Dijk, and the former Monaco star did a commendable job at the back as Liverpool kept their 13th clean sheet of the season.
Fabinho dealt with Brighton’s long balls and was untroubled while bringing the ball from the back as Chris Hughton’s side rarely pressed the Liverpool defence.
Crooks was impressed with Fabinho's performance and has even claimed that the 25-year old looks better at centre-back than in a deeper midfield role, which might give Lovren a run for his money.
“The Brazilian enforcer looks better at centre-back than he does in midfield”, Crooks wrote in his column for BBC Sport.
“At least that's how it appeared against a Brighton side who made life difficult for the league leaders but struggled to really hurt them.
“When there was the slightest threat, Fabinho snuffed it out.
"His positioning throughout the match was quite impressive.
“Any more displays like that and Dejan Lovren might have to start looking for new employers.”
Liverpool’s have opened up a seven-point lead at the top of the table and will hope Manchester City drop points in their game this evening.
