Liverpool’s Brazilian midfielder Fabinho has disclosed that The Reds have to find different ways of breaking down teams who defend with a very deep line when facing the Premier League leaders.
Speaking to ESPN, Fabinho acknowledged how well December had gone for Liverpool with eight wins from eight in all competitions. The former Monaco player said:
“We have confidence. We enjoyed a brilliant December, which was almost perfect, but now we have had this dip.
“It is difficult to explain why this has happened. I believe that now teams who play against us sit very deep. We need to do things a little differently and maybe we aren’t doing this — we are unable to find the spaces.
“Often, we want to go through the middle and it is difficult against physically strong and defensive teams. We need to find solutions and in these past few games we haven’t.”
Liverpool’s form took a big dip in January with defeats at Manchester City and Wolves (FA Cup) counter-acted by hard-fought victories over Brighton and Crystal Palace. However, Klopp’s men have only managed two draws in their last two outings, at home to Leicester and away to West Ham.
Fabinho spoke of the struggles he and his teammates are currently facing as they try to hit the form they were in before 2019 arrived.
“We want to play better every day and unfortunately it is not happening. We know our quality and we know that we can give more.
“If we do it, with our quality, we will continue at the top. But I’m talking and talking is always a little easier, so we have to try to put it into practice. Personally, I am not worried. But we know that in the next game we have to give much more.
“Beating Bournemouth is important to continue with a three-point gap at the top of the table. Now we only look at the next game and that is against Bournemouth.
“Then there will be a run of difficult games, but we will get some players back from injury and the manager will have more options to choose for those games.”
All eyes will be on Anfield this Saturday afternoon as Liverpool try to get back to the level of performance we all know they are capable of.
For the most in-depth tactical and statistical analysis regarding Liverpool FC sign up now! The original home of Pressing Stats, Anfield Index also brings you the latest views from club legends such as Jan Molby.
Hear from the UK’s top journalists, managers, professionals, sports scientists, physios and sports psychologists as we bring you the ultimate LFC fan experience provided on approximately 30 podcasts every month for our AI:Pro listeners!!
Enjoy all this and more for just £4.99 per month at Anfield Index Pro!!