Former Manchester United captain Gary Neville has branded Liverpool midfielder Fabinho "a top player".

Fabinho did not feature in any of Liverpool's first eight Premier League matches of the 2018-19 campaign following a summer move from Monaco.

However, the Brazilian has been a regular in recent weeks, and impressed in Liverpool's 3-1 win over Manchester United last weekend before putting in another strong performance in Friday's 2-0 success at Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Neville has admitted that he was initially unsure whether the 25-year-old would be able to cope with the demands of Premier League football but has now completely changed his mind.

"He got a little bit of criticism a few games ago, against Arsenal, when he didn't do to well and I had wondered whether he would adapt to the pace," Neville told Sky Sports News. "But last week against Manchester United he was fantastic.

"What I liked about him was sometimes you see a defensive midfield player and they play horizontally, the shuffle across horizontally, they pass horizontally. He actually moved up the pitch. He was up in the game, backing up at the edge of the box. His pass for the first goal was absolutely fantastic, cut United open.

"Last week was the first time I saw him put in a performance where I thought 'this looks like a top player'. Obviously we know he's top player but you just think is he going to settle into this Liverpool team? It looked like a slow start but now it looks he's delivering what Jurgen Klopp wanted him to."

Liverpool will be top of the Premier League table at Christmas.