In the Reds’ 1-0 victory over Manchester City, Liverpool midfielder Fabinho stated why he “wasn’t very scared” about Erling Haaland. At Anfield on Sunday, two Premier League powerhouses squared off, with Mohamed Salah’s lone goal making the difference in an exciting game. Norwegian superstar Haaland, who has scored 20 goals in all competitions this season, was held scoreless on Merseyside thanks to Jurgen Klopp’s defense, which freed up players like Fabinho to concentrate on other things.
In response to facing one of the most feared strikers in world football, the Brazil international midfielder told ESPN, “I suppose that, in my case, I wasn’t very worried about him since I already had Bernardo Silva, Ilkay Gundogan, and Foden on my side.” I was attempting to close the gaps between the lines, but they execute the motions flawlessly and pass on the full-backs with excellent technique. Communication and mutual understanding with the other players are quite crucial, and I believe that worked very well for us on the right side because Joe Gomez and James Milner were working well together. The two defenders then displayed superb play, successfully closing Haaland’s openings.
Alisson was also very secure, so I’m glad to have managed to shut the spaces of a team as excellent as City. Of course, a player of that caliber will always be able to have room and create chances, which is what happened. Haaland has failed to score for City against just two opponents this season—Liverpool and Bournemouth—and they both shut him out in the Community Shield match at Leicester’s King Power Stadium back in July.
With 23 victories over the defending champions in the Premier League, Liverpool leads all other teams by seven victories. In their last 14 home matches, the Reds are undefeated (W8 D6). This week, Klopp’s team will play host to West Ham and travel to Nottingham Forest, with the first match taking place on Wednesday. Klopp’s team is now ninth in the Premier League rankings.
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