The Dutchman has changed the fortunes of Liverpool ever since joining the club and is one of the best defenders in the world right now. Virgil van Dijk is a leader at the back that Liverpool have lacked in recent times. The Dutchman's presence allows Klopp to stick to his ultra attacking tactics, as the Merseyside club chase their first Premier League title.
Ad
Trending
Van Dijk is a warrior on the pitch, a fighter who is extremely strong in the air and has wonderful ability to read the game ahead of him. He stations himself accordingly and ensures that very little get past him on the pitch. And he rarely lunges into tackles. But van Dijk does not just defend, he is also a threat in the opposition box during set pieces, where his heading ability comes in handy. He has already scored four goals and assisted three times from 38 appearances this season.
The Dutchman’s discipline is also one of his strong points. Van Dijk has just one yellow card from 31 appearances in the league and four from 38 games in all competitions. He has averaged just 0.4 fouls per game in the Premier League this season.
×
Feedback
Why did you not like this content?
Was this article helpful?
Thank You for feedback
About the author
Deepungsu Pandit
Deepungsu is a veteran football journalist who has been covering daily transfer roundups and news for over six years at Sportskeeda. He has written close to 9000 articles for the website, and has garnered over 19.5Million reads.
Deepungsu holds a PG degree in Microbiology and an MBA degree in Total Quality Management. He has an extensive two-decade long writing experience, which includes a decade of sports blogging. His writing prowess has even led his work getting cited on the legendary Franz Beckenbauer's Wikipedia page.
Inspired by Diego Maradona, Deepungsu played as an attacking midfielder for his local club at subdivision level in his initial years and scored an important goal or two. However, his all-time favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and evidently, he feels Argentina's glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment for fulfilling his long-standing dream. He is also an ardent East Bengal fan.
Deepungsu has been a Manchester United supporter since the year 2000. Unsurprisingly, his favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson and the Scotsman helped him get through some of the toughest days of his life. Like the fiery Scot, Deepungsu also leaves no stone unturned when it comes to accuracy in articles and only relies on credible sources.
Despite believing in Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland to create an iconic rivalry, Deepungsu reckons no one can match the longevity of Messi and Ronaldo. He spends his leisure time writing about life on his blog, reading books, and playing the guitar.