Liverpool’s Fabinho couldn’t hold himself from taking a dig at fellow rivals Manchester United, ahead of their showdown at Old Trafford. United have had their worst possible start to the season, losing two of their first two league games against low-keys Brighton and Brentford. Amidst their such poor form, Fabinho has fired shots at United as well.
On the other hand, Liverpool too are not in a good place after drawing their first two games of the season. While the 2-2 draw away to Fulham was a set-back on the opening day, the Reds failed to stage a comeback in their next at Anfield. Crystal Palace once again denied Klopp’s men all three points. With both United and Liverpool searching for their first win, Fabinho has began the mind games.
Fabinho says United’s crisis mean ‘one less team that will fight for titles’
Manchester United expected a change in fortunes with the appointment of Erik ten Hag as their new manager. The former Ajax boss created a lot of hype with the United team in the preseason, winning 4-0 against Liverpool. However, a reality check was soon served to Ten Hag after the new season began.
His star striker Cristiano Ronaldo has decided to quit the club and their priority targets in the transfer market are rejecting a switch to Old Trafford. United lost their opener against Brighton at home and then were hammered 4-0 by Brentford away. Next up are last season’s runners-up Liverpool, and their midfielder Fabinho can’t wait to pile up more misery on the Red Devils.
Speaking to PA [via Manchester Evening News], Fabinho said: “I think Manchester United is a really big team and has big money to invest as well so when a team like this is not successful, I think it is good for us. Of course, we will be happy because it is one less team that will fight for titles or win championships. I don’t care if a win pushes Manchester United a little bit more into crisis. I just want to beat them and win three points.”
Fabinho further went on to freshen up his memories from Liverpool’s thumping win at Old Trafford last season, where they put five past the home side. He said: “The first half [last season] was almost a perfect game. We scored four goals and the way we played, the way we pressed them, the quality we played on the ball was really unbelievable. To be honest, I wanted the team to attack more to try to score more goals because we had one more player in that moment.
“But it was the moment where the team tried to control more of the game and to stabilise the ball. As a fan I wanted the team to score more because it was a big opportunity to do a historic score at Old Trafford but of course 5-0 was not bad.”
However, Liverpool too will have to be wary of their form since Klopp will be visiting Old Trafford without a number of his first-team players unavailable. Thiago, Curtis Jones, Ibrahima Konate, Joel Matip and Diogo Jota are all out with injuries, while summer signing Darwin Nunez’s red card in the last game means he is suspended for three games.