Liverpool midfielder Fabinho has admitted that the club’s main goal for the rest of the season will be to secure a top four in the Premier League.
The Brazilian spoke ahead of a tough away trip to Arsenal on Saturday night, just a few days before they turned their attention to the first match of their Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid.
But Fabinho insists that the team’s focus is not just to get as far as possible in Europe this campaign, but rather to end the domestic season well and finish among the top four.
Back to work ??? pic.twitter.com/MBNkk54ECa
– Fabinho (@_fabinhotavares) March 29, 2021
“This should be our goal now, to be among the top four,” the 27-year-old told the club’s website. “Of course this will not be easy. We have to win almost every match we have but I think we can. First of all we have to believe that this is possible and then just play our best football.
“We do not need to think about Real Madrid because Arsenal will be a really tough match,” Fabinho continued. “Our ambitions and our goals are not just the Champions League, it’s also in the Premier League. So we have to focus on Arsenal and play our best football on Saturday.”
Liverpool have struggled to replicate the form they found during the 2018/19 and 2019/20 campaigns, when they won the Champions League and Premier League respectively, and currently it looks like they risk missing out on the top four altogether.
The Reds are in seventh place in the table, five points from Chelsea in form, who face West Brom in their next match.
Disappointed Liverpool players after 1-0 loss to Chelsea | Laurence Griffiths / Getty Images
It has also been a tough individual season for Fabinho, who due to long-term injuries to Virgil Van Dijk and Joe Gomez has been forced to play most of the campaign in midfield.
However, the 27-year-old insists that he has become a better player for it: “I learn and improve a lot in this position as well. I think it helped me to become a better player and now the boss knows he can trust me in another position, “he revealed.
“I also need to be more [of a] leader than normal because we lost Hendo, we lost Virgil. I also have to improve a lot in this role. But I think I learned a lot this season and improved in many respects. “
