5 reasons why Virgil van Dijk is a future Liverpool captain

#5 He’s already established himself as a key player

Van Dijk has shored up Liverpool's defence since his arrival

Where it’s often hard to work out exactly what current captain Jordan Henderson adds to Liverpool, it’s easy to see exactly what van Dijk has done for the side. A team with a reputation for having one of the shakier defences in the top half of the Premier League – remember those disastrous showings against Tottenham and Newcastle earlier in the season? – has been firmly shored up by the arrival of the Dutchman in January.

Prior to his arrival, Liverpool had played 21 Premier League games and had conceded 24 goals – meaning on average, they were conceding 1.14 goals per game. After the Dutchman’s signing in January, the Reds have played 15 league games and have only conceded 13 goals – an average of 0.86 goals per game. More to the point, van Dijk played in 12 of those 15 games, and in those 12 Liverpool conceded just 9 goals, giving them an even lower average of 0.75 goals conceded per game.

Essentially, van Dijk has solved the defensive problems that Jurgen Klopp was having at Anfield and almost more impressively, his arrival appears to have filled his defensive teammates – the likes of Dejan Lovren, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez – with even more confidence too. Surely that’s the making of a future team captain, and more evidence to suggest that Liverpool could hand the Dutchman the armband in the near future.