“He’s the best centre-half I’ve ever seen, he’s that good”
Danny Murphy believes Liverpool are more vulnerable without Virgil Van Dijk after the defender was ruled out for a lengthy period with a knee injury on Sunday.
The Dutch international was injured after a challenge from Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford during the early stages of Saturday’s Merseyside Derby and substituted minutes later.
The severity of the injury was confirmed on Sunday afternoon, when Liverpool announced the resulting damage to Van Dijk’s anterior cruciate ligament would require surgery.
Speaking on Match of the Day 2 on Sunday evening, Murphy explained that, although Liverpool have enough to cover Van Dijk, his absence will pose problems for Jurgen Klopp.
“They’re going to be worse off without him,” the former England midfielder told Mark Chapman. “They’re going to be more vulnerable defensively without Van Dijk because he’s the best in the world.
“He’s the best centre-half I’ve ever seen, he’s that good. You’re going to be more vulnerable.
“Fabinho can drop in there if [Joe] Gomes or [Joel] Matip are struggling. But after that, there’s not that much cover so they’ve got to get through to January, because it looks like he’s going to be out for the rest of the season.”
"Liverpool will be more vulnerable without him (Virgil van Dijk) – he's the best centre-half I've ever seen."#LFC #MOTD2 pic.twitter.com/dJnNsW8w8I
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) October 19, 2020
Predictably, in describing Van Dijk as the best central defender he’s ever seen, Murphy sparked fierce debate on Twitter.
Soon after, the names of Nemanja Vidic, John Terry and Vincent Kompany were trending on the platform as a direct consequence of Murphy’s comments.
