Fabinho names the only Liverpool player who was able to dispossess Virgil van Dijk
Fabinho has revealed Roberto Firmino has been the only Liverpool player able to dispossess Virgil van Dijk in training.
The 28-year-old Dutch central defender and current PFA Players’ Player of the Year recipient is fast-becoming renowned for his near immunity to be dribbled past.
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Across his 56 outings for club and country in the 2018/19 season only Manchester City winger Leroy Sane, during a Germany v Netherlands Uefa Nations League contest, managed to pull this feat off.
And it appears his ruthless approach to defending isn’t restricted to official matches. Van Dijk, a serious trainer, appears to have made it a habit of not being shown up by his own teammates, making getting the better of him a rare achievement.
Fabinho, who joined the Reds from AS Monaco last summer, witnessed this firsthand in their Champions League-winning campaign, but also the one individual who nicked the ball from him.
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“I’m usually on his team, thank God,” he told De Sola.
“The only guy I’ve ever seen winning a ball from him on training was Firmino. Only once.”
A season to remember for Van Dijk. Five key things to know…
- The 2018/19 season was Van Dijk’s first full campaign as a Liverpool player having joined from Southampton in January 2018.
- He’d play an instrumental role in the Reds having the Premier League’s best defence (22 goals conceded).
- His performances earned him the PFA Players’ Player of the Year award, becoming the first defender since John Terry (2004) to claim the prize.
- Across 56 outings for club and country only Manchester City winger Leroy Sane, during a Germany v Netherlands Uefa Nations League contest, dribbled past him.
- Van Dijk ended the campaign lifting the Champions League before leading the Netherlands to second place in the Uefa’s Nations League.
