Jurgen Klopp has been told his full-backs will need to be more defensive-minded to cover for Virgil van Dijk’s injury.
With V an Dijk set to miss a sizeable portion of the season following his knee injury in the Merseyside derby, Fabinho looks set to play in defence for a period of time.
Whilst the Brazilian impressed against Ajax, former Reds defender Glenn Johnson is concerned that the Reds’ full-backs are too attacking to make up for van Dijk’s absence.
Speaking to Premier League productions, Johnson argued that Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold will now need to be reined in, or opposition teams will be looking to exploit the fact that Fabinho will be left one-on-one with an attacker.
The former right-back feels it is something that the duo usually would not have to consider due to how dominant Van Dijk is and said their current mindset would leave Fabinho exposed.
He said: “Obviously I was an attacking full-back, and when I played alongside John Terry, I knew I didn’t have to come back that far, because I knew he’d win the ball back and I could stay high in an aggressive position.
“But when you play with other centre-halves, you have to defend, you have to tuck in.
“I think it will alter their games, they will have to be reined in a little bit.
“Everyone will know they’re going to be high, sometimes at the same time.
“The so-called smaller teams, they won’t even be looking. They’ll just play the ball into the space these guys will be leaving.
“Someone will fancy their chances one-on-one with Fabinho.”
