It may be a new season, but it is the same imperious Virgil van Dijk for Liverpool, which he underlined in a dominant performance at St James’ Park.
With the help of our partners at FotMob, we looked at Virgil van Dijk‘s statistics and Liverpool’s defensive susceptibility.
The captain was uncharacteristically out of sorts in the Community Shield and admitted he was still not fully fit, but you can now put that to bed after his performance against Newcastle.
Van Dijk was imperious and you can run out of superlatives to describe his influence and significance on the result, even if he played his part in the high line for Newcastle‘s second goal.
Despite having Anthony Gordon’s studs rake down his calf, he continued to make everything look easy and, as per FotMob, no player made more defensive contributions (14) on the night.
He made a game-high 13 clearances, of which 10 were headed clear, one block (joint-match high) and won the second-most aerial duels (5/9) behind only Milos Kerkez (7/9).
Van Dijk had more touches than any other player (78) and operated with an accuracy of 87 percent (the fifth-best of any player from either side with 40 or more passes).
The No. 4 has now racked up 30 clearances and 17 aerial duels won (his success rate is 77.27 percent) in two Premier League games, the most of any player in the topflight.
Van Dijk, again, possessed a commanding presence in the air, was composed in possession and relished the hostile environment, ensuring anyone who thought his level may drop has been told otherwise.
It points to the continued improvements Liverpool need to make to reduce Van Dijk’s involvement, but simultaneously how vital the No. 4 remains to the team at 34 years old.
Liverpool are in safe hands when he is on the pitch, but they are currently too vulnerable for sustained success should the day arrive when last-gasp winners cannot be conjured.
Liverpool need to lock down the opposition
Even with 10 men in the second half, Newcastle created more big chances (two) and had more shots on goal (four) than Liverpool could conjure.
In the time between the 47th minute and Ngumoha’s winner, Liverpool created an xG of 0.00 and conceded twice from set piece situations against a side who had only 29 percent possession.
Across the entire match, Liverpool had five shots compared to Newcastle‘s 10 (eight of which were inside the box) and two big chances in contrast to their four, while making 43 clearances vs. 21.
Eddie Howe’s side, who finished with 38 percent possession, also saw his players touch the ball inside Liverpool’s box 27 times, in comparison to the 17 for Slot’s men.
The ease in which the opposition has been allowed to advance on Liverpool’s goal and take advantage of set pieces is in need of remedying, and quick.
Van Dijk is a wall at the back, but he can only take so many blows.
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