Virgil van Dijk definitely enjoyed his return to Southampton.
The Liverpool defender, largely helped by the toothlessness of his former employers, had his most comfortable display in a Liverpool shirt on Sunday, with the Reds running out comfortable 2-0 winners at St Mary’s.
Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah struck for Jurgen Klopp’s men as they moved to within two points of Manchester United in second place in the Premier League table.
Liverpool would have been encouraged during the build-up to the game at news filtering through of United’s defeat at Newcastle, but several of the players, van Dijk included, wouldn’t have allowed their focus to be interrupted in the hour before kick-off.
Van Dijk, it seems, was oblivious to United’s fortunes as, during his post-match interview, the Dutchman was asked if their rivals’ result had put any added pressure on Liverpool.
“Why, what did they do?” Van Dijk asked the reporter.
“Well, they got beat,” came the reply.
“Did they? Oh, unlucky,” the defender said, cracking a rye smile. “I didn’t know but it’s good for us obviously.”
Skip to 1:55 in the video below for the full exchange.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEAc_JZbHbQ&feature=youtu.be
While you can excuse van Dijk for being somewhat smug when hearing of United’s misery, the defender was clearly in a good place following his display against the Saints. Thr 26-year-old made two tackles, won five aerial duels, made six interceptions and completed 82% of his passes in what was nothing more than a lively stroll around St Mary’s for him and his teammates.
With a much more difficult match to come midweek in the shape of a trip to face Porto in the Champions League last-16, Liverpool fans will hope that van Dijk puts in a similarly assured and assertive performance at the back as they aim to keep their only hope for silverware this season alive.
