Liverpool star Fabinho is on standby to play as a central defender as the crazy festive schedule kicks in, according to Jurgen Klopp.
The Brazilian midfielder was excellent in our 3-1 win over Manchester United and has slowly proved his quality for the Reds this season. However, Joel Matip and Joe Gomez have fairly lengthy injuries and will not be a part of the team before 2019.
The Liverpool Echo adds that youngster Nat Phillips is also out with an injury while Dejan Lovren has had his fitness concerns since taking Croatia to the World Cup final in the summer.
Klopp hoped that the Croatian would be able to play all the upcoming games (h/t Liverpool Echo):
“I hope Dejan can play them all but I don’t know in the moment. It looks really good. We don’t really have options. But Fabinho can play at centre-half as well so that’s good.
“Nat Phillips is injured as well which is a real shame. We may have to think about other options like three at the back with two midfielders or stuff like that.”
The German highlighted Arsenal playing some midfielders in their defence this season and hinted at taking that option up should the need arise.
The manager further claimed that it would be difficult to get a quality central defender in the market in January but Gomez and Matip should return before the window closes.
Klopp has mixed the team around early in his career too as we saw Emre Can and Georginio Wijnaldum play as central defenders.
Hopefully, we don’t have to take such drastic measures and our team doesn’t pick up any injuries during the festive period.
