Here is your Liverpool morning digest for Tuesday, January 31.
Joao Cancelo and Man City show Liverpool what they've done wrong
To say that news of Man City’s decision to let Joao Cancelo depart for Bayern Munich as we near the end of the January transfer window was a shock to the wider footballing community is something of an understatement, writes Theo Squires.
After all, the Portugal international was one of City’s star players last season as they won the Premier League and has been named in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year in the last two seasons. Meanwhile, he started 51 of his 52 appearances in all competitions last year, registering three goals and 10 assists.
Such form saw him rewarded with an improved contract last February, extending his deal with City until 2027, while he was handed the number seven shirt in the summer with his inverted left-back role crucial to Pep Guardiola’s set-up since signing from Juventus in a £60m swap deal, costing £27.4m and Danilo, back in August 2019.
READ MORE: FSG have £10bn reason to make Liverpool sale decision that John Henry favours
READ MORE: Jurgen Klopp fumes with Mohamed Salah as Liverpool substitutes laugh at touchline incident
This is of course what we all see from the outside, yet he has admittedly not been an ever-present at City in recent weeks. In truth, he has gradually fallen out of favour since being turned by Mohamed Salah in the Anfield centre-circle back in October, with the Egyptian going on to score the winner for Liverpool as Guardiola dropped to his knees.
READ THE FULL STORY HERE.
Fabinho is making Jurgen Klopp's big Liverpool problem even worse
An immediate wince and a raised hand was all that was needed for Fabinho to get his message of apology across at Brighton on Sunday afternoon, writes Paul Gorst.
After lunging into a late challenge that saw him rake his studs down on to the ankle of Evan Ferguson, the Reds man instinctively knew he was in the wrong. The Brazil international's reaction suggested there was no malice in the intent but that will have cut little ice with the young striker, who saw his afternoon curtailed early as a result.
Fortunately for Liverpool, Fabinho avoided seeing red, with referee David Coote opting instead to just caution the former Monaco man and he appeared as though he couldn't believe his luck following the decision.
Had Fabinho been on the pitch any longer, he might well have been dismissed but only Coote will know how much of a factor that was in the decision to go only with a yellow card just moments after the Liverpool man had entered the fray.
Just a few seconds earlier, Fabinho's introduction to the game, which was delicately poised at 1-1 upon his arrival, saw him take a heavy first touch to bring about the breakdown of a Reds' attack. That particular phase of play ended with Brighton threatening down the other end on the counter-attack as a result.
For such a short cameo, given he replaced Stefan Bajcetic with 85 minutes on the clock, it was perversely impressive how he managed to shine further spotlight on his ongoing malaise.
It's been a season to forget in general for Jurgen Klopp to date and the deep-rooted problems within the psyche of a squad that went so close to sweeping the board last season can be traced back to their struggles in midfield, according to some.
READ THE FULL STORY HERE.
READ NEXT:
- The futuristic new Liverpool stadium with an 18,500 single tier stand and Carlsberg naming rights deal
- Liverpool analysis - Cody Gakpo shows Darwin Nunez problem as transfer reality becomes clear
- What happened after final whistle at Brighton reveals Liverpool most troubling question of all
- 'It wasn’t okay' - Jurgen Klopp unhappy with Liverpool players' body language at Brighton
- Harvey Elliott 'lost for words' after another 'annoying' Liverpool setback
