Liverpool wait with bated breath on indispensable Fabinho’s injury fate

As Fabinho uncomfortably made his way out of Anfield, on crutches with his left ankle in a protective boot, Jurgen Klopp sat on the top table and looked apprehensive rather than optimistic about the midfielder’s injury.

Liverpool’s 1-1 Champions League draw with Napoli – a missed opportunity to secure qualification to the knockout stage, which will now rest on their final group game against Red Bull Salzburg – felt secondary to the Brazil international’s setback.

“He has pain, so that’s not good,” the manager said. “He couldn’t continue, and he is a really hard player.

“I don’t want to say what I expect, because I hope that it is not that serious, but we will know more, maybe tomorrow, maybe the day after. We will see.”

There were only 14 minutes on the clock when Fabinho collided awkwardly with Hirving Lozano, his left ankle and shin feeling the force of that clash. The 26-year-old tried to shake off the injury, offering false hope for a brief while, before needing to be replaced by Gini Wijnaldum on 19 minutes. That Napoli scored 120 seconds after his removal wasn’t a coincidence as Liverpool initially struggled to adjust to his absence.

And why wouldn’t they? The ‘Dyson,’ as Fabinho is nicknamed by his team-mates for his talent of hoovering up danger and providing the clean base for them to attack, is one of the anchors of Klopp’s blueprint.

His protection is a large part of the reason fullbacks Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson can be so offensive, operating as auxiliary playmakers, while his fellow midfielders can work in the half-spaces or pull out wide.

Fabinho’s progressive passing, intelligent decision-making and skill in quashing counters has been central to Liverpool’s status as European champions and their designs to end a painful three-decade wait for the Premier League title.

“His impulse of defending forward is absolutely of the highest level,” assistant manager Pep Lijnders explained earlier this year. “Inside the ‘organised chaos’ that we want, that we like, he is like a lighthouse, he controls it. His timing, his vision, his calmness, it gives another dimension to our midfield.”

The reaction to Fabinho’s injury, with the most taxing period of the schedule creeping closer, is a reminder of how integral he has grown to become at Anfield.

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By this point last year, he had started only five games for Liverpool and was persistently being linked to a move away from the club, primarily by L’Équipe to Paris Saint-Germain. He had struggled to pick up the increased pace of the game in England and would “stink out” training sessions during pre-season, but Klopp assured everyone – including the player – that all he needed was time to adapt to the greater intensity and his demands, increase his physicality and be patient. Despite the transfer rumours, neither Fabinho nor his agent, Jorge Mendes, were agitating behind the scenes. In fact, it was the opposite, the former quietly worked on his deficiencies.

Fabinho, who topped a shortlist of four candidates in the summer of 2018 for the holding role, undertook a specialist gym program to enhance his power and fitness, which focused on strengthening his thighs and core without diminishing his speed to the ball. From the turn of the year, he has been operating at a consistently supreme level, with Gary Neville labelling him the best in his position in 2019.

Liverpool and Fabinho’s advancement has been intrinsically linked and there will be a collective holding of breath and crossing of fingers at Melwood when the findings of the midfielder’s scan are revealed.