Jurgen Klopp was a relieved man to see midfielder Fabinho put in a fantastic display in defence as the Liverpool started life without their injured centre-half. With Van Dijk likely to miss the majority of the season with a knee injury and Joel Matip also injured for the trip to the Netherlands, Fabinho stepped up, or dropped back, to partner Joe Gomez in the 1-0 win over Ajax. “Fabinho was immense in everything he did,” former Liverpool full-back Stephen Warnock told BBC Radio 5 Live. Interestingly, in the Premier League so far this season Van Dijk had averaged just 0.7 tackles, 1.9 clearances and 1.2 interceptions per 90 minutes. “All the questions have been about Van Dijk and Alisson being out,” former Liverpool striker Michael Owen said on BT Sport.

Source: The Star October 22, 2020 21:00 UTC