Fabinho reveals the secret behind his set-piece goals

InterviewFabinho reveals the secret behind his set-piece goals

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By Sam Williams

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Fabinho’s recent flurry of goals from set-pieces is down to a combination of awareness and confidence.

Liverpool’s No.3 has scored five times in his last eight games, with three of those strikes being close-range finishes following dead-ball situations and the other two penalties.

Fabinho wins Standard Chartered Men's Player of the Month award

NewsFabinho wins Standard Chartered Men's Player of the Month awardFabinho has been voted Liverpool's Standard Chartered Men's Player of the Month for January.

Ahead of the Reds’ meeting with Norwich City on Saturday, Fabinho was asked to reveal the secret behind his new-found knack.

The Brazil international told Liverpoolfc.com: “Usually I am the last man in the protection but now I have the opportunity to be more often in the box in the set-pieces and I try to always do different movements.

“Sometimes I go out for the players and be alive in the box because sometimes even if you don’t win the first ball, the second ball can come to you and you can score.

“And when you score goals you are always confident that the ball will come to you. So, yes, I try to chase the ball, be alive and score goals.”

For more from Fabinho, on topics including his fitness and reaching 150 appearances for the Reds, read on…

Fab, it’s back to the Premier League and a meeting with Norwich on Saturday. It’s a quick turnaround from the game in Milan, are you feeling fit and ready to go again?

Yes, we feel ready to go. It’s a really important game in the Premier League. We want to keep our form, keep winning games. We will play at home so we have to play our best football, to do what we do normally: to press them, to try to control the game, create opportunities and as I said before, this is a really important game for us. We want to keep winning games so yes, we have to try everything to win.

Do results like the win over Inter give you so much satisfaction that you almost feel ready to play again straight away?

It’s always good to win! For the team, for our confidence. The game in Milan was really hard, it was a tough game. They played a good game as well, they had the chance to score, but this win feels really nice because 2-0 away is always important. The Milan tie is not finished, we have to play another game at home but yes, 2-0 is a really good result.

Inside Milan: Inter 0-2 Liverpool

It’s a very busy period of the season, but Liverpool have now won seven games in a row. How important is it to have found some momentum at a time when there are so many games?

Like I said before, it’s always good to win for the confidence, for the individual confidence as well and for our goals we want to always win. In the league we want to be next to Man City, we want to close the gap, and it’s important to always try to win the games. In the Champions League and in knockout tournaments, if you don’t play good you can be out of the tournament. So yes, it’s always important to have our confidence in the highest level possible.

Liverpool have already played 10 matches in 2022, you’ve started nine of those and you’ve played for Brazil too. How are you feeling physically? Do you enjoy it when it’s a rhythm of game after game after game?

Yes, I really enjoy it when you have to play every three days because we don’t have too much time to train, we have to always prepare for the next game and you don’t have much time as well to think about the other games. You have to focus on the next game and be ready. I feel really good physically and with confidence and as I said, I want always to play to help the team on the pitch and hopefully I will start another game against Norwich.

You’ve scored five goals in your last eight games and your general performances have been excellent too – do you feel like you’re in top form, or is there even more to come?

I think I am in really good form in the moment but I’ve been playing like this for a long time, but when you score goals people start to talk a little bit more about you. But yeah, it’s nice. I just want to keep playing, keep feeling good physically and keep helping the team.

Finally, your appearance against Inter in midweek was your 150th for the club. How proud are you to have reached that milestone?

It’s a really special number to achieve with a big shirt like the Liverpool shirt. I want to keep playing even more – 200, 250 [games] because playing for Liverpool is really special and I want to be in the history of this club and hopefully be a legend in the future.

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