VAN DIJK MAKES CASE FOR THE DEFENCE
Strikers make headlines but clean sheets can make champions
WITH Liverpool and Mo Salah redefining the Premier League landscape, one statistic at Anfield has been overlooked.
Liverpool have six clean sheets in their last nine games after just two in their first 12 games of the campaign. And since Virgil van Dijk arrived for £75million from Southampton at the start of January, they have conceded just one goal from a set-piece.
With Andrew Robertson also providing more steel and aggression at left-back, Liverpool no longer look like conceding every time their opponents attack.
Van Dijk, an instant hero after the debut goal that put Everton out of the FA Cup, said: “I definitely feel as though I have settled in now.
“Quicker than I might have thought? I don’t know. You come here with expectations and you want to play as soon as possible and as much as possible. I’m getting better and better and the understanding with all of the players is getting much better. I’m just playing my game and trying to help my team.”
Against Watford at Anfield on Saturday, Salah (right) was the centre of attention with his four-goal haul.
But no one pours scorn any longer on Liverpool’s defence, testimony to the impact VVD has had at Anfield. And that’s even more impressive when you consider Liverpool’s natural instinct is to attack.
That places a huge strain on defenders like Van Dijk. They are given little protection and are expected to go one on one with some of the best strikers in world football.
And he has had to adapt to Jurgen Klopp’s approach having spent so much of the past year out injured.
“How fit am I now? That’s difficult,” the big Dutchman said. “But I’m completely over my ankle problems.
“The way Liverpool play you need to be spot on. That’s pretty clear right now.”
For Van Dijk, the next few weeks will tell him more about the wisdom of his decision to move to Anfield when there were other offers on the table from the likes of Chelsea.
The Champions League quarter-final clash with Manchester City comes in the middle of a tough series of games that includes visits to Palace, Everton and Chelsea. And there is the small matter of a Holland friendly against England this week.
“You don’t think about that when you’re heading off with the international team,” he said of the Champions League. “You’re giving everything for your country, and that’s what I’m going to do.”
Holland failed to qualify for the World Cup, France and Sweden finishing above them, and new Kop idol Van Dijk acknowledges it’s a tough road ahead for them.
“It’s a big period for us as a country,” he said.
“We have been in transition, we have a new manager, and it’s going to be totally different now. I’m looking forward to meeting up with the guys. We play England as well so it’s going to be good.”
And on the small matter of that mouthwatering City showdown? “City are a very good team, very hard to play against. We need to be 100 per cent to beat them over two games,” he said.
“But we can prepare for those games when the time comes.”