Liverpool could struggle through the festive fixtures without Fabinho

Liverpool’s midfield rock, Fabinho, could miss 4-6 weeks through an ankle injury, which could put their lead atop the Premier League table in jeopardy.

When the superb Fabinho Tavares fell to the floor against Napoli on Wednesday night, the entire Liverpool fanbase collectively held its breath, as the Brazilian was substituted off with an apparent ankle injury.

While we don’t know the extent of the injury just yet, it seems Liverpool are fearing it could keep him out for all of December, which we know is a ridiculously busy period of the season, where the Premier League essentially turns a corner.

Fabinho has emerged as one of the premier holding midfielders on the planet during his time at Liverpool, where he lifted the UEFA Champions League last season.

Despite joining for £40.5m in the summer of 2018, Fabinho took a while to really adjust to the Premier League and break into the Liverpool XI, similarly to his teammate Naby Keita, who unfortunately still hasn’t managed to find his feet in England. Fabinho however, grew into the team eventually and became the best midfielder at the club, and Klopp’s go-to man at the base of the midfield.

Now, Liverpool will be searching for solutions to this loss. It would be fantastic for them if Naby Keita could find his feet and earn a starting place through the winter months, but that seems unfortunately unlikely.

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We will probably see Jordan Henderson revert back to the base of the midfield, which is the position we used to see him playing in week-in, week-out before Fabinho broke into the first team. Of course, Georginio Wijnaldum will keep his place in the XI, but the final spot will be a toss-up between Oxlade-Chamberlain, Milner, and Keita.

While Milner brings more experience to the pitch, Liverpool already have plenty of that, and it would be fantastic to see Oxlade-Chamberlain get an extended run in the midfield – something we haven’t seen since prior to his lengthy ACL injury.

Jurgen Klopp’s men currently hold an impressive 8-point lead atop the Premier League table, but things can change quickly in this division, and the festive fixtures are no easy test for any club. Liverpool will have to be careful not to slip up, and based on their recent habits of scraping by teams they should be beating comfortably, they could very well struggle without their midfield anchor Fabinho.