Graeme Souness has hailed Virgil van Dijk for his display as Liverpool beat Manchester City. The Reds hero believes the defender ‘proved a lot of people wrong’ against Erling Haaland.
Liverpool kicked their Premier League season into gear at home to the reigning champions last Sunday. Mohamed Salah struck the only goal of the game 14 minutes from time as the Reds bounced back from losing at Arsenal. The Anfield outfit had not won in three fixtures.
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Jurgen Klopp can now oversee a hat-trick of wins if Liverpool win at Nottingham Forest on Saturday. The Merseysiders moved to within four points of the top four on Wednesday as Darwin Nunez scored to edge West Ham United 1-0. The Uruguayan struck on 22 minutes.
Van Dijk had come in for some criticism for his performances prior to Liverpool hosting and beating Haaland and Manchester City. Ally McCoist claimed on talkSPORT that the 31-year-old ‘doesn’t look the same player’ and the Dutchman also ‘looks as if he needs a spark’.
His displays were certainly below his previously sublime and imperious levels. The Holland captain also had his off moments at Arsenal after going missing before Bukayo Saka scored the Gunners’ second goal. Van Dijk’s passing has occasionally gone askew this season, too.
Souness feels Van Dijk proved people wrong as Liverpool beat Haaland’s Man City
Yet when Haaland and Manchester City arrived at Anfield, Van Dijk was the Van Dijk of old in Liverpool’s win. He rarely allowed the Citizen’s £51m star a sniff of Alisson Becker’s goal and led the Reds’ defence throughout. He was also nearly always in the right place to clear.
Haaland had only failed to score against AFC Bournemouth in August through his previous nine Premier League appearances. The 22-year-old sensation had also scored 15 goals in his other previous outings. His haul even featured three hat-tricks, along with three assists.
The Leeds-born forward did still enjoy some chances to score past Alisson after taking up a few good positions. But Van Dijk’s performance to limit Manchester City charmed Souness.
“Erling Haaland could still have got two goals against Liverpool,” Souness wrote in his Daily Mail column. “But Van Dijk was on it – getting back to the player he was.
“When that challenge was put in front of him, he proved a lot of people wrong. Big players turn up in the big games. He turned up.”
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