Gary Lineker has hailed Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk and labelled him a ‘Rolls Royce’.
Van Dijk has had a superb campaign, making 50 appearances in all competitions and his performances and leadership have been key in Liverpool’s quest for an unprecedented quadruple. Having missed the majority of last season through injury, the contrast in the Reds’ defence couldn’t be sharper with their measly back line conceding just 25 goals this campaign, the second best record in the league. This is compared to 42 last season when the Dutchman’s absence was sorely felt.
A key part of Van Dijk’s quality is how he enables Liverpool to play with an extremely high line, which suits their intense high-pressing game. “That’s how they play though isn’t it?” Lineker told the Match of the Day Top 10 podcast when discussing the playing style of the Reds and title rivals Manchester City. “It’s the same with Liverpool, I don’t think they can play without a high line the way that both of those teams do.
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"The problem is though that if there’s someone in the midfield with no pressure on the ball you have to drop, and sometimes defenders can get that wrong. But with Liverpool with van Dijk who is such a Rolls Royce they can get away with it.”
Van Dijk went off injured during the FA Cup final victory over Chelsea and missed Tuesday’s trip to Southampton. But Jurgen Klopp is confident that he will be involved for the Champions League final and may even feature in Sunday’s Premier League finale against Wolves at Anfield.
Ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Saints, Reds boss Klopp said: “He has played a lot and at the moment with it being Saturday-Tuesday again, it was clear that they're both [VVD and Mohamed Salah] okay. So the target for both is that they can both be involved at the weekend [against Wolves], properly involved on the bench or starting or whatever.
"We will see with that because that would be perfect for the game, but if not, we take each day afterwards. It is very positive or we have no doubt about the Champions League final, but we are pretty realistic about the Wolves game, but tomorrow, not."
