Fabinho: We have to keep this intensity and quality going
Liverpool have to maintain the intensity and quality that underpinned their 5-1 success against FC Porto, explained Fabinho.
Having taken an early lead in the Premier League standings, the Reds have also won each of their opening two games in Champions League Group B.
Porto were defeated emphatically at Estadio do Dragao on Tuesday night as doubles from Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino complemented a Sadio Mane strike.
Highlights: Porto 1-5 Liverpool
It was a convincing and exciting display by Jürgen Klopp’s side and a blueprint of what is needed in every match, according to Fabinho.
The No.3 spoke to Liverpoolfc.com after the final whistle in Portugal – read our chat with him on the victory over Porto, the performance of Curtis Jones and Sunday’s league showdown with Manchester City…
It was such a hungry performance from the team…
Yes, tonight was a really important win. I think we didn’t expect to win by [scoring] five goals but that was really important. We created a lot of opportunities, we scored five and could have scored more. In this group it’s really important to start with two wins.
You mentioned it could have been more. It was five goals but the amount of opportunities you created as a team again tonight…
It was really great, the intensity we played. The players who came on as well kept the rhythm, the intensity, the quality. So that was really important for us, for our players to score tonight. We scored five, we could [have] kept the clean sheet as well, but Porto have good players as well and Porto have a good team. It was a really important win to keep this rhythm.
How do you assess the performance of Curtis Jones tonight? He was involved in every single goal…
Yes, every goal! He’s a really good player. He needed this, to play every three days, it’s important for him for his rhythm. Physically, he’s really good and then with the ball, we know if we give the ball to him he will turn, he will create something special because he’s a really talented player. So, I’m happy for him with his performance and I hope he will keep playing well like this.
Top of the group and top of the league – do you feel as though this team is finding its groove now and getting into its stride…
Yes, it’s really important to be top of this group – a really hard group – and top of the league as well. We don’t have easy games and we have to always be ready to play and play in our way and keep the intensity and keep the quality. We played a hard game against Brentford last weekend and we played a hard game here tonight, but we put a high intensity – that was really important for us. We just have to keep playing in our way and hopefully we will keep on winning games.
Manchester City to come at Anfield on Sunday. How much are you looking forward to that now as a team, with the confidence you have from tonight?
A performance like this tonight just gives us more confidence for the future. The next game is against Manchester City at Anfield, so we know Anfield will be with a really nice atmosphere. These are the kind of games every player likes to play. We just have to play our football, to give everything and we know the fans will be with us.