James Pearce backs ‘heavily criticised’ Liverpool player to win ‘key battle’ against Arsenal
James Pearce has backed one ‘heavily criticised’ Liverpool player to come out on top in what could potentially be a ‘key battle’ against Arsenal tomorrow.The Reds welcome the Premier League leaders to Anfield having not won in four games across all competitions since they last played in front of their fans five weeks ago, when […]
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James Pearce has backed one ‘heavily criticised’ Liverpool player to come out on top in what could potentially be a ‘key battle’ against Arsenal tomorrow.
The Reds welcome the Premier League leaders to Anfield having not won in four games across all competitions since they last played in front of their fans five weeks ago, when they thumped Manchester United 7-0.
In the 34 days since that famous result, Virgil van Dijk has come in for plenty of flak both while on international duty and playing for his club.
On Sunday, he will likely be tasked with stifling Gabriel Jesus, who scored twice in Arsenal’s 4-1 victory over Leeds last week, but Pearce is confident the Dutchman will have the better of the Gunners ace.
Previewing tomorrow’s match for The Athletic, the journalist wrote: “Van Dijk has to view Sunday as the perfect opportunity to silence some of the noise around his form.
“Heavily criticised while on international duty last month, he was off the pace during that second-half debacle at the Etihad a week ago and then missed the Chelsea game due to illness. Now he’s ready for duty again.
“Jesus is a real menace with his intelligent movement but I’d still back Van Dijk to win this key battle.”
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It has been a difficult few weeks for Liverpool’s number four, who was forced to sit out Tuesday’s 0-0 draw at Chelsea but is now in line to return for tomorrow’s clash.
He was castigated for his role in the lead-up to Philip Billing’s winner for Bournemouth against the Reds last month, while Dutch pundit Gertjan Verbeek eviscerated him in a scathing attack in which he called the 31-year-old a ‘first class wimp’ and insisted that he should lose the Netherlands captaincy.
However, the statistics show that Van Dijk remains a crucial player in Jurgen Klopp’s side – nobody at the club has won more than his 2.6 aerial duels per game (WhoScored), while he also has the best aerial success rate (73.8%) of anyone in red to contest more than five this season (FBref).
Also, let’s not forget that this is player who made the FIFPro World XI just last year (FIFA.com), so opposition forwards should absolutely take him very seriously.
As Pearce has hinted, the Dutchman could send out a serious riposte to his critics if he can stifle the red-hot Gunners attack tomorrow and halt their Premier League title charge.
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