'It's fantastic' - Jurgen Klopp says Liverpool have 21-year-old pair who have been 'dominant' recently

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp saluted Fabio Carvalho for restoring his confidence in the second half of the season.

Carvalho joined the Reds from Fulham in the summer of 2022 but endured a difficult maiden campaign. He was loaned to RB Leipzig at the start of 2023-24 but struggled for minutes at the German outfit and saw his spell cut short in the January transfer window.

Carvalho subsequently made the switch to Hull City where he would join Liverpool team-mate Tyler Morton, who had moved to the Championship club in August. Carvalho has already netted three times in eight appearances to help propel the Tigers into the play-offs. One of his goals was in a 2-1 win over Southampton, who face the Reds in the FA Cup fifth round tonight.

Klopp, speaking at his pre-match press conference, spoke about the admiration he has for the football on show in the second tier. The Liverpool boss said: "I love the Championship. I watched it so often. I watched it last week; Leeds [against] Leicester. I think there was a Bundesliga game on as well. I tried to watch that but then I went to Leicester [against] Leeds; wow. The Championship improved. I don’t know how it was nine years ago, to be 100 per cent honest. I’m not sure I watched it from the beginning. But the football [that] is played and the intensity in the Championship is absolutely insane. Absolutely insane. I saw West Brom playing recently; a real football-playing idea. Leicester obviously. Southampton obviously [have] a real football-playing idea. I don’t think I saw Ipswich but they obviously do well."

And when asked about the development of Carvalho and Morton - who has bagged three goals in 30 games - the Liverpool manager replied: “It’s so good to see. I forgot [when I spoke about] good footballing sides [in the Championship] to speak about Hull. I saw them as well.

"It’s really cool, and Fabio and Tyler are doing really well. I’m so pleased for them. It’s massive, and it is so nice to see Fabio completely confident again. Both are pretty dominant players, playing pretty much in the centre of the team and being involved in quite a lot of moments. The development of both is fantastic. I’m really happy."