Liverpool: Virgil van Dijk wowed in win over Southampton | OneFootball

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Football FanCast

·27 November 2021

Liverpool: Virgil van Dijk wowed in win over Southampton

Article image:Liverpool: Virgil van Dijk wowed in win over Southampton

Liverpool made no mistake in securing another Premier League win this afternoon with a convincing 4-0 victory over Southampton at Anfield, following on from their win against Arsenal last weekend by the same scoreline.

Even though Reds attacker Diogo Jota added two more goals to his tally for the season against the Saints, one Liverpool player who perhaps stood out the most on this occasion was Virgil van Dijk.


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The Dutchman perfectly highlighted just what his former club are missing by not only scoring a goal against them this afternoon, but by showing what a capable defender he is as well.

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Article image:Liverpool: Virgil van Dijk wowed in win over Southampton

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In his 90 minutes on the pitch, Van Dijk had 82 touches of the ball and completed 64 of his 70 passes, with one being a key pass and five being accurate long balls, highlighting how skilled he was with his distribution.

The 30-year-old also made himself a difficult opponent for Southampton’s attacking players by making six clearances, one interception and one tackle in the process, as well as winning 100% of his duels, asserting his dominance over his former club.

This latest performance for Jurgen Klopp’s side earned the centre-back an impressive overall match rating of 8.1/10 from SofaScore, making him one of Liverpool’s highest-rated players on the day.

In addition, the Liverpool Echo said that the 30-year-old “marshalled the backline with authority and mopped up whenever required”, highlighting his importance to the team on this occasion.

This performance also highlights why former Barcelona defender Carles Puyol previously described Van Dijk as a “complete” defender, and also showed how dangerous he can be in the opposition’s penalty box.

Did Van Dijk have his best game of the season against Southampton?

Yes

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No

Article image:Liverpool: Virgil van Dijk wowed in win over Southampton

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Given how Liverpool had to make do without Van Dijk for the majority of last season through injury, it’s no surprise that they conceded 42 goals in the league compared to just 33 in their title-winning 2019/20 campaign.

Looking ahead to the rest of this season, if the Dutchman can stay fit, he will surely give the Reds a great chance of picking up some silverware when May rolls around.

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