Pundit Gary Neville has praised Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk as ‘immense’ after Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Manchester City.
Liverpool v Manchester City is always prime viewing, but especially when it’s at Anfield.
City may have conquered the world but there is a patch of grass on Merseyside where they just can’t seem to get it done.
Anfield has been City’s kryptonite throughout the Pep Guardiola era and they couldn’t come up with a win against an injury-hit Liverpool side.
John Stones scored the opener for City but they struggled in the second half with Alexis Mac Allister pulling Liverpool level from the spot.
Liverpool may feel that they should have won it, but a point keeps them right in the Premier League title mix and nobody will be overlooking them.
Gary Neville on Virgil van Dijk
A number of Liverpool players turned in superb performances and Virgil van Dijk is right up there.
The Dutchman lined up against Erling Haaland and largely kept the Norwegian quiet in an imperious display.
Haaland had one moment in the first half where he was able to run at Van Dijk, but he could only shoot straight at Caoimhin Kelleher.
Outside of that, it’s difficult to remember Haaland offering all that much as City struggled to hurt Liverpool after the break.
Some questioned Van Dijk after his major knee injury and, yes, he maybe had some difficult times.
It’s clear that Van Dijk is still the gold standard for Premier League defenders though and he has now been hailed by Gary Neville.
Neville told the Gary Neville Podcast that Haaland was ‘quiet’ because Van Dijk was simply ‘immense’ on Sunday afternoon.
Neville was impressed with defensive partner Jarell Quansah too, but it was Van Dijk who really dazzled the ex-Manchester United ace.
“Haaland, we see him quiet, we see him quiet quite often, but he normally lights up a game,” said Neville. “There was nothing from him today. Van Dijk was immense and Quansah did well alongside him,” he added.
Van Dijk turns 33 this summer but is showing no signs of slowing down – or losing his crown as the Premier League’s top centre back.
Excellent no matter who his centre back partner is, Van Dijk is a truly elite player and he will certainly want to end the Jurgen Klopp era with another Premier League title.
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