Fabinho’s work at Melwood and his previously-productive partnership with Georginio Wijnaldum convinced Jürgen Klopp to start the Brazilian against Everton.

The No.3 comes into the Reds’ XI for Sunday’s Merseyside derby as one of three changes from the midweek defeat to Paris Saint-Germain.

And speaking pre-match, Klopp - whose midfield options were restricted by the suspension being served by captain Jordan Henderson - explained why he’d opted to select Fabinho.

“It worked pretty well so far. When the two boys [Fabinho and Wijnaldum] played together they did really well to be honest, so that’s the only reason for that,” said the boss.

“Fabinho is obviously rested and trained really good, Gini is in very good shape. That doesn’t say anything about the other players to be honest - that’s my life, I have to make these decisions and in the best case the other players don’t deserve sitting on the bench. 

“In our case that’s how it is in the moment, but we still have to adapt to the specific opponent week in and week out, and that’s what we try.”

Xherdan Shaqiri also returns to Liverpool’s starting line-up, with Klopp prizing the Swiss’ ability to ‘play between the lines’ versus Everton.

“It’s to have players between the lines, that’s where you have to come,” he continued. 

“They are really good organised, they are really compact and you have to overplay lines. You can do that if you play through the lines or outside, so that’s the reason for that. Having another player, especially with his skills, we thought could help.”