Virgil van Dijk is the major reason why Liverpool has far surpassed Manchester City in the Premier League pecking order. That’s the firm belief of Ruud Gullit.
Speaking ahead of the Laureus World Sports Awards, Gullit one of the Netherland’s all time soccer greats says two crucial factors are behind Liverpool’s ascendancy.
One has been Van Dijk’s effectiveness in the Liverpool defence. The other is City’s struggle to find a reliable defensive option.
The multiple-capped Netherlands international centre back joined Liverpool from Southampton for a reported £75 million in January 2018. He’s been an inspiration ever since
Gullit was speaking ahead of Laureus Awards
His compatriot Gullit, speaking ahead of the Laureus World Sports Awards, believes the most crucial difference between the two has been:
- Van Dijk’s outstanding play, and…
- City’s struggles to find a reliable defensive option.
“In order to win, all the best teams need a good defence,” Gullit told Omnisport.
“At Barcelona, with Carles Puyol at the back, they had a good defence.
“If you don’t have that then you can attack all you like but you’re always going to be conceding a lot of goals.
“Pep Guardiola (of Man City) bought four central defenders and they couldn’t do it. City was unlucky also with injuries but it is a stable factor to have defenders that can do the things that you need them to do.
“A lot of teams don’t defend well. But, with Van Dijk, that issue was done (resolved).
He added: “Van Dijk is an example that I was right in what I said in Holland. If I say you have to learn how to defend people say, ‘You’re always going on about defending’ and things like that.
It all starts at the back
“But that’s where it all starts. Now they say you’re right, [you can have success] if you have a good defender, and the good thing is it was a Dutch defender.”
Van Dijk, a big 6ft 4in 28-year-old central defender who has represented the Netherlands in 33 internationals, played a key role in Liverpool’s Champions League success last season.
This season, with his rock-solid and towering figure ever-present in all 26 matches, Liverpool are flying higher than ever. They lead the Premier League and City, its reigning champions, by an extraordinary 25 points.
In fact, they are so strongly favored to win the English Premier League, New Jersey sportsbooks are not offering any bets on them at all
You can get 100/1 on Manchester City winning for the second successive season. You can 1000/1 on Leicester, 4000/1 on Chelsea and 5000/1 on Tottenham. But you won’t find a winning bet on Liverpool. At least not anywhere in the Garden State, that is.
Liverpool are away to Atletico Madrid on Tuesday in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie after their 1-0 away win at Norwich City last time out.
#YNWA pic.twitter.com/xQAZyuC6xd
— Virgil van Dijk (@VirgilvDijk) February 15, 2020