97% pass success: Gary Neville says £220k-p/w Liverpool tank gave a colossal performance v City
Gary Neville has heaped praise on one Liverpool player who was ‘immense’ in the Reds’ 1-1 draw against Manchester City on Sunday.
Although the home side didn’t manage a clean sheet at Anfield, Virgil van Dijk still has every reason to feel pleased with his performance, having stifled Erling Haaland to the point where the prolific Norwegian was little more than a spectator for much of the afternoon.
Speaking on the Gary Neville Podcast, the 48-year-old lauded the LFC captain for ensuring that the City striker was unusually subdued, especially after scoring seven times in his last three games.
The ex-Manchester United defender said: “Haaland, we see him quiet, we see him quiet quite often, but he normally lights up a game. There was nothing from him today. Van Dijk was immense and [Jarell] Quansah did well alongside him.”
The duel between Van Dijk and Haaland yesterday was encapsulated by the first-half moment where the City striker was bearing down on goal but the Liverpool skipper matched him stride for stride and did enough to put him off when it came to eventually taking the shot.
As per Sofascore, the 32-year-old won five of his eight duels, made four tackles and four interceptions, and delivered six accurate long balls out of seven attempted, yet it was his work in possession which truly highlighted what a Rolls-Royce of a footballer he is.
The £220,000-per-week Dutchman misplaced just two of his 79 passes all day (97% success rate) and lost the ball only three times, the fewest of anyone who featured for the home side, including those who came on as substitutes (Sofascore).
Van Dijk has been buoyed by the Liverpool captaincy this season, as illustrated by him generally recapturing the stratospheric levels he reached in his first two years at Anfield, and he came good for his team in their biggest match of the campaign so far, fully justifying Neville’s praise.
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