Man City icon makes Virgil van Dijk claim ahead of Liverpool clash

Former Manchester City striker Shaun Goater reckons Virgil Van Dijk will up his game when the Citizens visit Anfield on Sunday.

Van Dijk has established himself as one of the top-flight’s finest defenders since joining Liverpool in January 2018.

The Netherlands skipper will be up against the Premier League’s top goalscorer Erling Haaland who has 15 goals in nine league outings for his new side.

Despite Haaland being in the form of his life for the Blues at present, Goater believes that Van Dijk will be hoping to show what he is made of at Anfield.

But Goater, who scored 103 goals in 212 appearances for City from 1998-2003, is excited about the prospect of the big Norwegian going up against Van Dijk on Sunday, in a clash of the titans.

Speaking on City’s official website matchday coverage, Goater said: “Virgil van Dijk is not quite at his best at the moment but if you love the game, you want to see the two best players facing up to each other. You want to see the great teams facing each other when they’re both in form.

“But I think it’s one of those games where Virgil van Dijk himself, no matter what form he’s in, he wants to be raising his bar back to his best to say: ‘Today Haaland ain’t scoring. City ain’t scoring’. He will be up for that. But at the same time, Haaland will be thinking: ‘It’s about time they know about me, in terms of if they don’t already know, they’re going to know’.

“So I think it’s a beautiful game to be watching and seeing who comes out on top. I think Haaland himself has said that Virgil van Dijk is one of the toughest defenders he’s played against. The two of them will try to get the best of each other.”

Many have claimed that the former Southampton defender is a yard off the pace this season with Liverpool struggling for consistency and leaking goals regularly this term.

The Reds conceded four at Napoli, three at home to Brighton and three again at the Emirates on Sunday and Man City having such world-class quality in their attack, many are fearing the Sky Blues could wreak havoc at the weekend.

Another defeat for Liverpool would be seriously damaging for their hopes of tasting success in the league this season as three points for Manchester City would see Pep Guardiola’s side go 16 points ahead of Klopp’s men.