Just looking at Fabinho’s stats from this season;
Starting at centre back
P17 W6 D7 L4 F26 A14
1.47 points per game. This included 5 draws and 4 defeats in his last 9 starts in that position.
Starting in midfield
P11 W9 D1 L1 F26 A14
2.54 points per game. This included 8 wins and 1 draw in his last 9 starts in that position.
It’s worth mentioning also that he had outlying results in each position, the 7-2 defeat to Villa in midfield and the 7-0 win against Palace in defence.
I feel Klopp realised the importance of having Fabinho in midfield after the draws to Newcastle and Leeds which is why Williams was drafted into the team. It is imperative we have enough cover at centre back next season so we don’t have to even contemplate playing Fabinho there because we’re a different animal with him in midfield.
I'd be interested (though too lazy to do it myself) to see the record with Fab in defence and Hendo in midfield at the same time, as results only seemed to take a turn for the worse when Hendo was first moved back into defence and then injured.
Like last season, Hendo was showing himself to be perfectly capable of covering for Fab as the holding midfielder and Fab was certainly performing well as a CB early on, but when we had neither playing as a holding midfielder, we had serious problems.
