After Jurgen Klopp's "fucked" admission, Virgil van Dijk will be crucial in stopping Erling Haaland.
Virgil van Dijk will face Erling Haaland in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon when Manchester City visits Anfield, and he must rediscover his best form for the occasion.
Virgil van Dijk vs. Erling Haaland used to be billed as the world's best defender versus the world's best striker.
Even the most ardent Liverpool fan would struggle to argue that the description is still accurate following a significant drop in Van Dijk's form. Van Dijk's defensive abilities may not be at their peak, but he has excellent foresight.
"He will make the lives of defenders in England hell." That's what the Dutchman said after losing to Haaland in the Community Shield opener. Van Dijk, on the other hand, could not have predicted the extent to which Haaland has gone about doing so.
Before Sunday's box-office clash at Anfield, Haaland has already scored 20 goals in 13 Manchester City appearances. Players frequently express their excitement at the prospect of competing against the best, but the tide has turned so decisively that such platitudes are no longer applicable. Instead, the City striker is probably licking his lips, planning how he will dominate the opposition and add to his goal total.
What the pundits are saying ahead of the game reveals the extent of Van Dijk's decline. "Haaland resembles a modern robot, and everyone will be wondering how Liverpool and Virgil van Dijk will deal with him this weekend." Graeme Souness, a former Liverpool captain, wrote in the Daily Mail column. "The easy answer is with difficulty."
"Nobody is afraid of Virgil van Dijk anymore," Paul Merson of the Daily Star added. Van Dijk is a seasoned player who is unlikely to be motivated by such remarks ahead of his match against Haaland.
But he'll listen to Jurgen Klopp's words, who knows how dangerous Haaland is and can be if his players don't work together to stop him.
"It's not that Haaland will always go for Virgil van Dijk; there will be another centre-half there, and he will probably choose that," he explained to Sky Sports. "You'd have to defend Haaland even if he was alone on the pitch; he's absolutely incredible." In the best sense, he's a monster.
"But it's the presence of exceptional players around him that makes it so special." It's amazing how they set him up in those moments. It's not possible to just mark Haaland and leave the rest of Manchester City alone. If we do that, we'll be in big trouble."
With 33 goals so far this season, City leads the Premier League. Liverpool's defense has given up 12 goals, which is twice as many as it did at this point last season, and has appeared porous and lacking in confidence.
This season has been strange watching Van Dijk ease opposition strikers off the ball, be in the right position time and time again, win headers with a casual spring, and turn on the afterburners to win footraces.
He can no longer lay claim to being the world's best defender. Van Dijk, on the other hand, won't mind if he keeps Haaland quiet and leads his team to the kind of morale-boosting victory needed to jump-start Liverpool's struggling season.
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