Speaking on The Overlap, Virgil van Dijk has named Olivier Giroud as his most difficult opponent.
Van Dijk, of course, played against Giroud during his time with both Arsenal and Chelsea, and he has a more than respectable record against the Dutchman.
Indeed, Giroud has scored six goals in 12 appearances against van Dijk, and that is a fantastic record against arguably the best defender of this generation.
The centre-half admits that he couldn’t cope with Giroud, stating that he’s always been annoying to play against.
Giroud had van Dijk’s number
The defender spoke about Giroud’s ability to score against him.
“Funnily enough, Giroud. In some way he always managed to score.
“Whether it’s with Arsenal, Chelsea or France. When we won the league and we were 3-0 up or something and he still scored a goal.”
“So I would say he is the guy who scores against me and is just an annoying person, but there are so many amazing strikers I’ve played against – Messi, Aguero and Haaland is a difficult one because he has everything.”
Strange
Giroud does have a very good record against van Dijk, and it’s hard to figure out why.
The Frenchman is, of course, one of the most talented strikers of the past 10 years, but there’s no standout reason why he’d be able to get the better of van Dijk.
He’s not the fastest, he’s not the strongest and while he stands at 6ft4, the Dutchman is more than a match for him in the air.
Somehow, someway, Giroud knows how to score against van Dijk, and we’re sure that the Liverpool star is probably very happy that the Frenchman is now thousands of miles away in Serie A where he is still shining for Milan.
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