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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Mark Jones

Fabinho's response to Liverpool fans after Anfield crowd turn on two Reds players

Liverpool's Premier League season slipped from bad to worse on Saturday night, and it all proved too much for plenty inside Anfield.

The Reds may have reached the last-16 of the Champions League with their 3-0 win over Ajax in midweek, but things are not going to plan domestically where Jurgen Klopp's side have won four, drawn four and lost four of their 12 league matches.

The latest defeat came in miserable fashion at home to Leeds on Saturday night, when the Reds recovered from Rodrigo's opener - a farcical goal after a Joe Gomez error - to equalise through Mo Salah, only for Crysencio Summerville to win it for the visitors in the closing stages.

It was Liverpool's first league defeat at Anfield since the behind-closed-doors days of March 2021, when Fulham became the sixth successive side to beat the Reds on their own patch.

More damagingly though, it was Liverpool's first home league defeat in front of fans since Crystal Palace won 2-1 at Anfield in April 2017.

And those fans were in an angsty mood during the first half of the clash against Jesse Marsch's side, especially when Harvey Elliott gave the ball away inside his own half.

Midfielder Fabinho raced back to stop the Leeds attack and, as spotted by the Liverpool Echo, the Brazilian could then be seen turning towards the Kop end and gesturing in a manner that demanded more support for his teammates, and not groans aimed at Elliott.

Fabinho has had a difficult season for the Reds (Getty Images)

The young midfielder struggled on a difficult night for Liverpool, while home fans' angst could also be heard whenever Gomez got the ball following his early error.

It made for an atmosphere that was far from Anfield at its intimidating best, and Fabinho - one of the players who has struggled for the Reds the most this season - was also the subject of Klopp's ire during a heated first half moment as tensions flared.

Discussing the defeat after the match, Klopp told Sky Sports : "It was a setback, absolutely.

Jurgen Klopp admitted that Harvey Elliott may have been overplayed this season (Getty Images)

"I thought we had a really good start then conceded a freakish goal. We scored the equaliser but for some reason it didn't give us the security back. We struggled to control the game and gave too many balls away.

"The boys tried, we had good possession and had big chances but, in the end, if it is 1-1 and you defend the situation around the second goal like this, you leave everything open. In the end, it was two versus one in the box and they can finish off the situation. The problem is we cannot control this type of game at the moment."

The German also admitted that Elliott struggled in the match, adding that the teenager may have been played too often this season due to injuries in the squad.

"Maybe some players are overplayed," he said.

"Harvey has been exceptional for us this season. He had a good start but couldn't keep it going. Thiago has been ill, up front the same [players] play all the time - they are the three strikers we have left. We have to fight and that is what we must do."

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