Liverpool midfielder Fabinho Photo: IC

It did not take Declan Rice long to think of the best player in the world in his position when he was asked. "Fabinho" was the West Ham United and England defensive midfielder's immediate response before going on to praise the Liverpool man.

 "He's adapted to the Premier League really quickly," Rice said of the man who signed from Monaco ahead of last season. "He's strong and powerful. He sees a pass, reads the game really well."

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp is inclined to agree. By March of his debut season in England, the German explained his Brazilian midfield anchorman's status as a starter because Fabinho had grown into the role.

Klopp had more praise for his No.3. "He's just feeling more natural in his position. He's a very nice boy and a very smart boy as well. He wants to do everything right," Klopp said.

There was speculation that Fabinnho might even leave Liverpool such was his slow start to life at Anfield - where he had to learn to adapt to playing as a sole defensive midfielder rather than in a pair as he had played at Monaco. Klopp was having none of that. He told the press in November that Fabinho was going nowhere.

'Vital' figure

Klopp predicted that Fabinho would be vital for "the most intense periods of the season" and he was proved right. By the end of the campaign he was one of the first names on the teamsheet of the team that pushed Manchester City all the way to the last day for the most intense title race in a generation and finished in June as the champions of Europe after beating Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League final in Madrid.

It was in December that Fabinho started to show his stuff. He was immense in the midfield against Manchester United and set up Sadio Mane for the opening goal of what would prove to be Jose Mourinho's last game as manager. Fabinho's next game for his club is against Manchester United and there are rumours that a bad result could see Mourinho's successor Ole Gunnar Solskjaer shown the door.

That is likely little more than tabloid title tattle but what is not up for dispute is that a win at Old Trafford would see Liverpool match Manchester City's Premier League record of 18 consecutive wins while avoiding defeat would extend Fabinho's own record of not losing in games he started.

The victory over Leicester City in the final game before the international break was Fabinho's 28th game undefeated for games he started. That saw him match Arjen Robben's streak as a starter. The Dutchman joined Chelsea from PSV Eindhoven in the summer of 2004 but did not taste defeat until February 2006. That came in 3-0 loss away at Middlesbrough but it mattered little at the end of the season. Chelsea finished as champions under Jose Mourinho for the second season in a row.

The flying Dutchman was a lucky omen for the Stamford Bridge side but not quite as fortuitous as Manchester City's Gabriel Jesus. The Brazilian striker's run of 32 wins as a starter will be the next in his countryman's sights assuming all goes to form at Old Trafford.

Jesus joined City from Palmeiras in 2016 and he was a winner in every game he was named as a starter until December last year. That was a dramatic 3-2 loss to Crystal Palace at the Etihad that will most likely be remembered not for Jesus' record coming to a halt but for Andros Townsend scoring the Premier League Goal of the Season. Again, the run's end mattered little come May when Manchester City retained their title despite the best efforts of Fabinho and his teammates.

It is another Brazilian who shares a 32-game run with Jesus, although the identity of the player might come as a surprise. Manchester United fullback Rafael da Silva is the man in question. He arrived with his twin brother in January 2008 from Brazilian side Fluminense and it would be three years until he started a game for Alex Ferguson's team where he was not on the winning side.

The 'Invincibles'

That game was a 2-1 loss away at Wolves in February 2011 but once again, he finished the season with a Premier League winner's medal.

None of these players were quite as good to have around as Jens Lehmann. Arsenal's German goalkeeper had an astonishing 47-game winning streak as a starter and Liverpool fans will hope Fabinho can get close to that. The Reds have won their opening eight games of the season and although there is a long way to go, there have been whispers of matching the Gunners remarkable "Invincibles" season of 2003-04.

The German arrived in North London with little fanfare at the start of that 1.5 million pound deal from Bundesliga side Dortmund. Lehmann would not taste defeat in his first Premier League season as he formed the last line of defense for the team that would go on to be branded the "unbeatables" - the first team to complete the top-flight campaign as champions without a loss since the great Preston North End side of 1888-89 . 

It could all have gone very differently. Manchester United's Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy hit the crossbar with a last-minute spot klck in the sixth game of the 2003-04 season, an ill-tempered 0-0 draw at Old Trafford.

The run would end at the same ground a year later in an ill-tempered affair. Their October 2004 meeting would become known as the "Battle of the Buffet" for a young Cesc Fabregas flinging pizza at United boss Alex Ferguson as the two clubs scuffled in the tunnel after the match, but their was controversy on the pitch too. 

Van Nistelrooy did score from the spot this time out before a late Wayne Rooney goal sealed the three points and ended Lehmann's 47-start run of wins and Arsenal's own 49-game run. Then the real action kicked off in the tunnel. 

What will Liverpool v Manchester United serve up on October 20th?