Liverpool have been struggling domestically in recent weeks and months. The Reds can’t win a home game in the league to save their life. Despite their torrid form on British soil they’ve impressed in Hungary. Fabinho could be key to proving Rio Ferdinand wrong about Liverpool.
Liverpool ease past Leipzig
The Champions League is all Liverpool have left to win this season.
The Premier League title is well beyond our grasp and top four could be as well.
The Reds only route into next season’s Champions League could well be winning it this time out.
Jürgen Klopp booked his place in the quarter finals this week with a comfortable 2-0 win over RB Leipzig.
The Reds were irresistible going forward and could well have killed the tie earlier than they did.
It took second half goals from Mo Salah and Sadio Mane to put the result beyond doubt.
Rio Ferdinand on Liverpool chances
Speaking after the game BT Sport’s pundits debated how far the Reds can go.
Michael Owen was full of hope for Jürgen’s men, insisting we can’t write them off.
Rio Ferdinand wasn’t as optimistic about Liverpool, telling BT Sport:
“[They can’t win the Champions League] with that defence though. Come on.
“If Van Dijk and Gomez ain’t there they don’t win the Champions League, for me.
“There’s Bayern, Man City, PSG. Those teams will be licking their lips if the come up against a centre-back pairing like that at this level.”
Fabinho key to proving Ferdinand wrong
This week we saw Fabinho lineup in the midfield for the first time since the Reds took on Atalanta in 2020.
The last time the Brazilian started a Premier League game in the 6 role was the Merseyside Derby in October.
Whilst Ferdinand may not have a lot of faith in the Reds’ defence, Fabinho can prove him wrong if he stays in the midfield.
Having the Brazilian shielding the back four can alleviate some of the worries of them facing elite opposition.
As long as the two centre backs don’t have much to do there’s not much they can do wrong.
We saw against RB Leipzig that Fabinho can halt attacks in their tracks, he could be the key to our Champions League campaign.