Jamie Redknapp claimed Virgil van Dijk barely broke sweat against Bournemouth as Liverpool cruised to a 4-0 win today (Saturday).
The Holland international played the full 90 minutes of the Vitality Stadium clash as the Merseyside giants comprehensively beat Eddie Howe’s side to climb to the top of the Premier League table ahead of Manchester City’s trip to Chelsea later.
High-profile pundit Redknapp was impressed by how Liverpool blew Bournemouth away as Mohamed Salah scored a magnificent hat-trick.
Speaking on Sky Sports’ live coverage of the match immediately afterwards, Redknapp said: “They were in cruise control. Van Dijk can wear his kit on Tuesday night it’s that clean. He never got out of second gear. They were so comfortable in possession.”
OPINION
Even in the most taxing of assignments, such as Liverpool’s recent 2-1 defeat away at Paris Saint-Germain, Van Dijk looks in total control. Apart from when he unleashes the long legs and is forced into a recovery race against a blisteringly quick attacker, the Holland international appears to be playing within himself. His style is very much Dutch-cool and, most of the time, he makes the job of snuffing out elite attackers the easiest thing in the world. Against a Callum Wilson-less Bournemouth, that certainly appeared to be the case on a day when Liverpool emphasised their title credentials with a magnificent performance. Partnered by the impressive Joel Matip for the second match in four days, the visitors were in total control at the back as the home attack barely had a sniff. Given that James Milner was at right-back and Jurgen Klopp was unable to call upon Joe Gomez and Dejan Lovren, that was hugely impressive.