Preston secured a standout 2-0 victory away at West Brom on Wednesday night, keeping their hopes alive of making a late charge towards the Championship play-off places.
It was goals from Emil Riis and Cameron Archer that proved decisive, however, the robust display of the defence also attracted plenty of plaudits. Not only did they shut out their hosts on the night, but they also stopped the Baggies mustering up a single shot on target.
At the heart of that defence was Liverpool loanee, Sepp van den Berg.
Van den Berg rejoined the Lancashire club for a second loan spell in the summer in a bid to secure more regular game time. Although he’s been highly rated at Anfield since his arrival in 2019, the Dutchman departed for Deepdale under a cloud of uncertainty.
His decent but unremarkable Liverpool senior displays had cast doubt over whether he’d have enough to one day compete for a spot in Jurgen Klopp’s squad.
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Yet his form this season playing regularly within Preston’s starting 11 is starting to suggest that his Liverpool career could have been written off too prematurely.
So far he’s featured in 26 of Preston’s 27 Championship matches, with a surprising versatility to his game proving extremely beneficial for his team.
While Van den Berg is known for playing almost exclusively as a centre-back, he has at times operated as a right wing-back for Preston this year.
He’s not really got a profile that you’d associate as being suited to such a role, yet he performed more than adequately when doing so, helped by the fact that there wasn’t a huge emphasis on him contributing to attacking moves.
The arrival of new manager Ryan Lowe has led to a more consistent run within Van den Berg's favoured centre-back position, and within the same, you could make a case to say he’s been thriving.
In terms of defensive duels won, he boasts a standout success rate of 72%. While in the air he’s got an equally impressive success rate of 71%.
For comparison at Liverpool, Joel Matip has a defensive duel success rate of 73% this season, Van Dijk’s is 72%. In the air, Van Dijk has won 67% of his battles whilst Matip has come out on top in 61%.
Of course, Liverpool’s two key men are competing within England’s tough top tier, Van den Berg isn’t. Yet they’re still impressive numbers for the young defender in what can be a tough physical division.
Beyond the traits that are easier to quantify in numbers, Van den Berg also looks to be developing in key physical areas.
He’s always had size on his side, but previously perhaps lacked the muscle to go with his tall frame. That’s changing.
He looks bigger and stronger, most likely as a result of adding more gym work into his training schedule.
The 20-year-old is also proving to be much faster than previously given credit for.
That’s a key factor to note when you consider how Liverpool’s defence operates. They usually play high up the pitch and need to be ready to drop fast and match most forwards they face in a leg race.
The above highlights how Van den Berg is subtly ticking a lot of Liverpool boxes, meaning he may have a long-term future at Anfield after all.
But it will be a boost for the Reds and owners FSG either way.
Evven if Liverpool officials opine that he won’t quite reach the lofty standards needed to find a place within Klopp’s squad, his stock is steadily rising.
This means if they do opt to cash in, they could make a handy profit on the £1.3million investment they made to bring him to the club.
