Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp brought two key men back into the starting XI and they rewarded him massively with their performances to beat Everton at Anfield.
In a game that could have seen Liverpool stutter further and struggle once more, the Reds instead produced a performance that should set the tone for the rest of the season.
With the squad supplemented and seemingly rejuvenated by the returning Diogo Jota, Roberto Firmino and Virgil van Dijk, plus buoyed by the Anfield crowd sensing an opportunity, Liverpool showed there remains a gulf between them and Everton, even if they haven’t shown it too frequently of late.
It was Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo who got the goals — much needed for both after a little wait to find the back of the net — but it was in midfield where everything changed.
Jürgen Klopp made the bold call to bring Jordan Henderson and Fabinho into his starting XI, lining up alongside the exceptional Stefan Bajčetić. It proved to be a masterstroke, and it sums up the performances of all three recently that the surprise decision was bringing in Fabinho, rather than the 18-year-old Spanish youth international.
Without the injured Thiago Alcântara, the trio was individually and collectively superb — Fabinho and Henderson playing like different stars in contrast to their recent struggles.
Fabinho, even against a workhorse Everton midfield including the impressive Amadou Onana, looked like he could run again, while Henderson ran the entire game.
Tackles were put in strongly; duels were won; passes were sprayed confidently. All of that would not have been noteworthy last season, but in this instance, it feels like a turning point.
Only against Newcastle next weekend — another massive fixture that is just five days away — will the truth of the matter emerge. Has Liverpool found a midfield that works, or was that a one-off where the occasion helped the players raise their game?
On this evidence, Bajčetić could find himself starting against Real Madrid in just over a week’s time. Henderson and Fabinho being on the same team-sheet for that one now seems considerably less of a worry.
Klopp’s Henderson and Fabinho call, though, definitively paid off. It would have been easy to go with Naby Keïta — and he still might for Newcastle or Real Madrid — but the returning duo rewarded the Liverpool boss handsomely.
Ahead of a crucial run of games that will ultimately define the season, it could not have been more vital.
