‘Brilliant’ – James Pearce & Liverpool journos react to what they saw from 7/10 star in first-half v Brentford
Liverpool remain in an impressive position in the middle of the 2024/25 campaign, despite initially modest expectations around their first season under new head coach Arne Slot.
As it turns out, this Reds outfit appears, for the time being, very capable of going the distance in an array of competitions this term.
The return to peak form of skipper Virgil van Dijk has no doubt played a role in the Merseysiders’ march for a first Premier League title since the 2019/20 season.
Though recent weeks have seen Liverpool look a little shakey at the back, it’s telling that Slot’s side still has the joint-second-best defensive record in the English top-flight (20 goals conceded at the time of writing).
Not bad going in the Dutchman’s first year at the Anfield helm!
Virgil van Dijk has impressed at the Gtech Community Stadium
Liverpool’s patch journalists were left particularly impressed by our captain’s early defensive work in the first half of action against Brentford on Saturday.
James Pearce, Ian Doyle and Paul Gorst all jumped on X (formerly Twitter) to applaud the 33-year-old centre-back for killing off a potentially dangerous situation involving Bees sensation Bryan Mbeumo.
Our Dutch colossus was initially beaten to a 50-50 ball but recovered superbly to deny his opponent access to the final third.
VVD does brilliantly to get back and dispossess Mbeumo.
— James Pearce (@JamesPearceLFC) January 18, 2025
Van Dijk with great defending on Mbeumo having initially been beaten to the ball by the Brentford dangerman
— Ian Doyle (@IanDoyleSport) January 18, 2025
Really good tracking from Van Dijk to deny Mbuemo after the Brentford winger had nipped in ahead of him. https://t.co/gB725jj8a7
— Paul Gorst (@ptgorst) January 18, 2025
Yet further evidence of why our decision-makers should, in our view, be pushing hard to extend his contract (expiring this summer).
What do the stats say about Van Dijk’s first half?
The stats don’t paint as kind a picture of our No.4’s overall performance in the opening 45 minutes of action in West London.
Sofascore have handed Van Dijk a 6.9/10 score after accumulating 32 touches and completing 3/6 duels (ground and air) against Thomas Frank’s side.
→ 3 clearances
→ 2/3 ground duels won
→ 1/3 aerial duels won
→ 92% pass success rate (22/24)
→ 3/4 long balls completed
It’s far from being a poor performance from the Liverpool superstar, but we’d certainly like to see him display his typical dominance in the challenge more clearly come the second half.
There’s plenty of time to go, Reds!
Join our channel of readers on WhatsApp to get the day’s top stories straight to your mobile
The post ‘Brilliant’ – James Pearce & Liverpool journos react to what they saw from 7/10 star in first-half v Brentford appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.