Speaking on his podcast, Gary Neville has pinpointed the exact moment he believes Liverpool lost their Premier League title.
The pundit says that the Reds were effectively ruled out of the title race the moment Virgil van Dijk picked up his season-ending injury against Everton.
“They did, they did lose the title the minute he (van Dijk) got injured. It was too big of a blow for them to come back from. I’ll always remember the Monday night after that Liverpool and Everton game and Jamie Carragher did a very good piece of analysis and he looked at seasons when big players had been lost in teams,” Neville said.
“He looked at Roy Keane in 98 when we lost the league to Arsenal and the Cantona season when he kicked the fan and Blackburn won the league. He looked at scenarios where big players have been lost, Kompany leaving City last season, he looked at scenarios where one player came out of a team and it meant that others couldn’t cope with it, and I think van Dijk is that good.”
Losing van Dijk was a big blow, but it’s hard to argue that his injury was the sole reason Liverpool didn’t retain their title.
The Reds’ issues at centre-back went way beyond an injury to van Dijk, and if the likes of Joe Gomez and Joel Matip had managed to stay fit, perhaps the Reds could still have pipped Manchester City to the post.
The season has been and gone now, and we can only hope that the Reds can get back to their best next season once van Dijk is back fit and firing.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
