94 passes completed, 12 duels won – One Liverpool colossus had a low-key masterclass in derby win
Mo Salah was Liverpool’s headline maker as his double secured the 2-0 victory against Everton which put the Reds top of the Premier League for a few hours at least.The likes of Dominik Szoboszlai also conjured some moments which would’ve had the home fans excited at Anfield, although one man whose contribution might’ve gone under […]
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Mo Salah was Liverpool’s headline maker as his double secured the 2-0 victory against Everton which put the Reds top of the Premier League for a few hours at least.
The likes of Dominik Szoboszlai also conjured some moments which would’ve had the home fans excited at Anfield, although one man whose contribution might’ve gone under the radar but deserves plenty of recognition is Virgil van Dijk.
With the Toffees reduced to 10 men for more than half of the match and taking just six shots all afternoon, it wasn’t a day when the LFC defence was overly stretched.
Nonetheless, the Liverpool captain still rose to the task whenever Sean Dyche’s team asked questions of their opponents, as illustrated in statistics from Sofascore.
Of the 17 duels that the 32-year-old contested, he won 12 (more than any other player in red), standing up commendably to the physicality of Dominic Calvert-Lewin and latterly Beto. He also made two tackles and a team-high five clearances, and it wasn’t just in terms of his defensive work that he impressed.
Van Dijk completed 94 of his 104 passes, found a teammate with six of his long balls (the most of any Reds player for both metrics) and played one key pass.
Having had to fend off numerous critics in England and Netherlands over the past year, the Liverpool captain has had a tremendous week, scoring a stoppage time winner for his country on Monday and delivering a low-key masterclass in today’s derby triumph.
Jamie Carragher wrote in The Telegraph on Friday that Van Dijk’s contribution to the Reds so far this season had been largely ‘overlooked’, and it’s hard to disagree with the Bootle native.
Salah will justifiably get the headlines after his latest match-winning brace, but ask Klopp or any LFC player to evaluate the skipper’s performance today and they’ll tell you that he was an unsung hero of our latest triumph over Everton.
#Ep94 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Neil Jones
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