Virgil van Dijk

Viewers of the clash between Liverpool and Everton have flooded to social media this evening to lavish praise on Virgil Van Dijk, on the back of the Dutchman’s latest stellar showing.

Everton vs Liverpool

The latest edition of the Merseyside derby took place a short time ago, at Goodison Park.

Hosts Everton headed into proceedings on the back of a morale-boosting 3-0 win at Cardiff last time out, a result which brought to an end a streak of 3 straight Premier League defeats for the Toffees.

Liverpool, meanwhile, had seen a frustrating recent run of form allow Manchester City firmly back into the Premier League title race.

Jurgen Klopp’s men had drawn 3 of their last 5 outings in the league, though their most recent fixture did see the Reds thump Watford by 5 goals to nil during the week.

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 27: Sadio Mane of Liverpool celebrates after scoring his team’s first goal during the Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Watford FC at Anfield on February 27, 2019 in Liverpool, United Kingdom. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Liverpool frustrated

The struggles of the Merseyside giants returned once again this evening, though, as a stout defensive showing from Everton eventually saw the shares spoiled.

Mohamed Salah had the best chance of the clash during the first-half, but the Egyptian’s effort in a 1-on-1 showdown with Jordan Pickford was well saved by the latter.

The second-half saw little change in terms of clear-cut chances, with Salah’s lack of confidence in front of goal having seen the Liverpool attacker waste a couple of further opportunities over the course of the second 45 minutes.

As such, when all was said and done, Everton stood firm, leaving Manchester City a point clear of Liverpool atop the Premier League table.

Van Dijk dominates

Amid a hugely-disappointing showing on behalf of Liverpool at Goodison, during which the likes of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane both badly struggled, there was one standout performer in the colours of the visitors.

The individual in question was Virgil Van Dijk, who put in his latest masterclass at the heart of Jurgen Klopp’s backline to snuff out essentially everything that Everton threw at the visitors.

The Dutchman proved a colossus both on the ground and in the air, with his superb reading of the game having also enabled Van Dijk to shut down an absolute rake of promising Everton breaks by means of either a timely interception or block.

‘Absolutely incredible’

As such, it has since come as little surprise to see Van Dijk singled out as the game’s standout performer online, with droves of fans having taken to Twitter to lavish praise on the ‘incredible’ and ‘astonishing’ Liverpool stalwart, as showcased below:

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