Porto vs Liverpool: 5 players who could decide the outcome

#5 Virgil van Dijk

Virgil Van Dijk will need to be at his best to shut out Porto's attack

While Liverpool’s defence wasn’t the leakiest in the Champions League group stage, they did concede 6 goals – the most of any group winner aside from Roma who conceded the same amount. And they did look shaky at times, most notably in the 3-3 draw with Sevilla which saw the Spanish side come back from three goals down.

Clearly recognising his side’s weakness though, Jurgen Klopp moved swiftly in the January transfer window and brought in Virgil van Dijk for £75m – a world-record fee for a defender. But despite the huge fee he’s settled in relatively quickly, scoring a goal on his debut and helping to shore up the Reds’ backline. He’s clearly now their most important centre-back.

With Porto’s frontline consisting of a trio of the Champions League’s most dangerous players - Vincent Aboubakar, Moussa Marega and Yacine Brahimi – it’s important that Van Dijk is at his best throughout the game. Still without a settled defensive partner – Dejan Lovren and Joel Matip still look weak at times – if anyone can stop Porto’s ‘Three-Headed Dragon’ it’s the Dutchman. And if he can stop them, then he could win Liverpool the tie.