Fabinho believes Liverpool are well-placed to benefit from the World Cup break as Jurgen Klopp’s team look to chase down their Premier League rivals.
Having fallen narrowly short of winning a second title of the Premier League era when amassing 92 points last season, Liverpool now sit sixth in the top flight, seven points adrift of a top-four place.
Jurgen Klopp’s side did improve before the Premier League paused in November, and they could win three consecutive games for the first time this season when they visit Aston Villa on Boxing Day.
With France’s Ibrahima Konate the only Liverpool player to remain involved beyond the quarter-finals at the World Cup, Fabinho believes the break has benefited the Reds.
“It can be good,” he told the club’s website. “I hope this will be good for the team because, as I said before, our position in the Premier League is not the position that we wanted it to be.
“But this is the reality. We have to face it, we have to try to close the gap to the other teams and yes, game by game, try to play better and win.”
Fabinho played 45 minutes as the Reds returned to competitive action with a 3-2 EFL Cup defeat to Manchester City on Thursday, and he was pleased to resume with a game of that magnitude.
“In the game against City it was [important] to show that we are there, that we will fight with the best teams because we are one of the best teams as well,” Fabinho said.
“I hope that we will keep this level because we will need it. To have this as the first game back from the World Cup, I think, was good for us. The intensity of the game was really good.”