John Aldridge has heaped praise on Virgil van Dijk and says he is a level above Liverpool team-mates Dejan Lovren and Joel Matip.
Van Dijk has earned rave reviews for his performance in Sunday’s 2-1 victory over Tottenham at Anfield as the Reds earned their 24th victory of the campaign.
With the score level, Tottenham broke with Moussa Sissoko and Son Heung-min racing towards goal but Van Dijk forced the former to shot and his effort flew over.
Liverpool went on to win the game through an injury-time goal as they piled the pressure on title rivals Manchester City.
Aldridge believes the incident highlighted Van Dijk’s quality and his defensive ‘intelligence’, something that Lovren and Matip lack.
‘I will join the ranks of those who give the former Celtic star credit for his role in averting the goal,’ the Reds hero said in a column for Independent.ie.
‘His decision to keep Sissoko on his left foot and deny him the chance to get the ball to Son was quality defending at its most intelligent – and he was rewarded as Sissoko’s shot flew high over the bar.
‘Essentially, Van Dijk weighed up the best and worst-case scenario in a crisis situation and came up with the answer that gave him the best chance of coming out on top against the France international.
‘Dejan Lovren would have jumped in on Sissoko and either given him a chance to pass to Son or get past him, and I suspect Joel Matip may have done the same as most defenders now lack the intelligence Van Dijk showed in that situation.
‘He had done his homework on the two players threatening the Liverpool goal, he appreciated that Sissoko couldn’t hit a barn door with his left foot and he earned the luck that came his way with the final outcome.
‘It was a few seconds of action that could have ended Liverpool’s title challenge and if they are champions when the final ball is kicked on May 12, that moment will be one we will all look back on as being crucial.’
Liverpool were far from at their best against Spurs but manager Jurgen Klopp was delighted to see his side come out on top.
Speaking to Sky Sports following the win, he said: ‘I was relatively calm [after the winning goal] because it was a surprise. I saw the header and nothing else. I had no clue how the ball went in.
‘In the first half, we had fantastic chances and scored a wonderful goal. In the second half, we looked heavy and couldn’t really play.
‘They changed only a little bit. We didn’t adapt well. After Spurs’ goal, we started playing again more.
‘We compete with the best team in the world [Manchester City] and play against one of best in the world in Tottenham – it is a tough task.
‘City last year were champions and are still pretty good. We have to fight like crazy. I said there are 500 ways to win a football game and today was slightly ugly. Who cares?
‘We compete with the best team in world for one position and that is really hard.’
Liverpool continue their Premier League campaign on Friday evening with a trip to St Mary’s to face Southampton.
MORE: Former Arsenal manager speaks out on Aaron Ramsey’s Juventus transfer
