🦁 Premier League Player of the Week: Back to his best | OneFootball

The last Premier League weekend before November’s international break delivered another memorable round of matches.

And our Player of the Week is …

Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)

Liverpool’s post-international break showdown with Manchester City promises to hinge on the battle between attack and defence.

A solitary point separates the Premier League’s leading two clubs as they prepare to renew their intense rivalry after a season’s absence.

That top-of-the-table clash at the Etihad Stadium will offer a compelling subplot that pits Erling Haaland against Virgil van Dijk.

Both players approach this fixture in the form of their respective careers but the Reds captain’s return to the peak of his powers is arguably more impressive.

Van Dijk’s latest outing before club football’s enforced hiatus saw him pocket Brentford as Jürgen Klopp’s side ran out comfortable 3-0 winners.

It was by no means plain sailing, with Bryan Mbeumo proving a constant threat for the visitors during a particularly tetchy first half at Anfield.

But no player has embodied the high standards during Liverpool’s “mentality monsters” era than Van Dijk over the past five years.

Within 18 months of a £75m arrival from Southampton, he had helped the club reach successive Champions League finals, lifting the trophy in Madrid in 2019.

Such was the Netherlands international’s instant impact that he threatened to become only the fourth defender to lay claim the Ballon d’Or that year.

Just seven points separated him from Lionel Messi, his beaten adversary in that year’s memorable Champions League semi-final win over Barcelona.

Months later, the Dutchman delivered a more coveted prize by helping end Liverpool’s 30-year wait for a Premier League title before things catastrophically unravelled.

Van Dijk’s season-ending injury accelerated their short-lived defence of the crown, finishing the season 17 points adrift of eventual champions City.

Against all odds, he returned that summer with a vengeance to help Klopp’s side fight on all fronts for a potential quadruple until the very last.

Then came another personal lull that saw them again falling short to Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering juggernaut by a mammoth 22-point margin.

Being awarded the captaincy following Jordan Henderson’s departure, however, has coincided with Van Dijk’s current renaissance.

Among a team of multiple on-field leaders, the 32-year-old had already appeared to be Liverpool’s true skipper without the armband.

Formalising those added responsibilities has seen his calming influence grow in a backline that is still somewhat finding its feet this season.

Van Dijk’s deputy Trent Alexander-Arnold and Kostas Tsimikas initially struggled against the Bees last Sunday with rare lapses of judgement.

The full-backs’ noticeably improved performance was testament to their cohort’s diligent defending as much as the hosts’ comfortable margin.

Statistics also bear out Van Dijk’s ability to influence proceedings as Thomas Frank’s side were restricted to a small handful of meaningful efforts at goal.

Further evidence of Van Dijk’s guiding hand can be seen in the fact only City had conceded fewer than Liverpool this term prior to their chaotic encounter at Chelsea.

Had history panned out differently, he would be preparing to line up for the hosts at the Etihad in just under a fortnight’s time instead of against them.

Behind-the-scenes footage from City’s inner sanctum in late 2017 revealed how the club’s hierarchy visibly bristled at Southampton’s asking price for Van Dijk.

Clearly it wasn’t a sliding doors moment for Guardiola’s men, who have swept all before them since, but their Merseyside counterparts would not have been the same team without Van Dijk over the last five years.