On the Premier League homepage, former midfielder Adrian Clarke believes that Virgil van Dijk has regained his peak form and can stop Erling Haaland in the big match between Liverpool and Man City in round 13 today.
"There aren't many centre-backs in world football who have the strength, pace and spirit to confidently take on last season's Premier League top scorer, but Van Dijk is one of them," wrote Clarke, who played for Arsenal from 1991 to 1997.
In fact, Van Dijk has a superior head-to-head record against Haaland, winning four and drawing one of his five matches in all competitions, both at club and international level.
Van Dijk (red) blocks Haaland's shot in the Community Shield earlier this season. Photo: Action Images.
The last time they faced each other was 13 months ago, Liverpool beat Man City 1-0 thanks to Mohamed Salah in round 11 of the Premier League. At Anfield that day, Haaland wanted to exploit the position of Joe Gomez - the center-back partnering Van Dijk - as often as possible. But Van Dijk always followed closely, often winning each time he fought Haaland one-on-one. The most notable situation was Joao Cancelo's one-touch cross aimed at Haaland in the far corner in front of an empty goal. However, Van Dijk rushed back and headed it over the line, depriving the opponent of a clear scoring opportunity.
In the Man City shirt, the other time Haaland played Van Dijk also brought sad memories. In the Community Shield match in July 2022 - the first official match after moving to Man City, the Norwegian striker missed at least three chances, including two in the penalty area. As a result, Man City lost 1-3, missing out on the first title of the season to their rivals.
The confrontations between Van Dijk and Haaland
| Battle | Prize | Result | Haaland scores |
| Liverpool - Man City | Premier League | 1-0 | 0 |
| Liverpool - Man City | Super Cup | 3-1 | 0 |
| Norway - Netherlands | Nations League | 1-1 | 1 |
| Liverpool - Salzburg | Champions League | 4-3 | 1 |
| Salzburg - Liverpool | Champions League | 0-2 | 0 |
Haaland's other two encounters with Van Dijk at club level came when he was playing for RB Salzburg. Those were in the 2018-2019 Champions League group stage, when RB Salzburg lost 0-2 at home to Liverpool and 3-4 at Anfield - where Haaland contributed a goal.
At the national team level, Haaland and Norway drew 1-1 with Van Dijk's Netherlands in the UEFA Nations League group stage in September 2021. At that time, Haaland opened the scoring in the 20th minute but Davy Klaassen equalized 1-1 at the end of the first half for the Netherlands.
2022-23 was a poor season by Van Dijk’s high standards, but he has regained his form and confidence since the start of this campaign. The 32-year-old centre-back has become more aggressive in duels with opposing strikers and has eliminated the silly mistakes that caused him so much criticism last season, making virtually no errors in the opening 12 games.
Among defenders with more than 800 minutes of play in the Premier League since the beginning of the season, Van Dijk leads the statistics in the rate of winning one-on-one duels with 80.5%. The Dutch center-back also has a winning rate in aerial duels up to 82.3%. These figures for Van Dijk last season were 69.5% and 73.7% respectively. Specifically, Van Dijk has 51 aerial victories - the second highest figure in the Premier League since the beginning of the season, only behind Brentford center-back Ethan Pinnock with 59 times.
Van Dijk (right) is regaining his peak form at Liverpool this season. Photo: AFP
Van Dijk had the most successful season in 2018-2019 by not letting an opponent get past him once, and he is on his way to repeating that amazing achievement. Among defenders with more than 800 minutes of Premier League play since the start of the season, Van Dijk is the only one who has not let an opponent get past him once in 838 minutes on the pitch. Behind Van Dijk in this metric are Arsenal's William Saliba and Aston Villa's Ezri Konsa, both of whom have let an opponent get past them once in 1080 minutes. West Ham's Kurt Zouma has also let an opponent get past him once in 990 minutes on the pitch.
Last season, Van Dijk was dribbled past 11 times by opposition players. His decline in form was partly responsible for Liverpool finishing fifth in the Premier League.
Clarke believes Liverpool and Van Dijk personally can "copy" the style of play that William Saliba and Arsenal used to block Haaland in the 1-0 win over Man City at Emirates Stadium on October 8. At that time, Saliba - a player with a similar style and physique to Van Dijk - always tried to close in and not give the Norwegian striker much space to handle and accelerate. Collectively, Arsenal kept a suitable distance, did not retreat too deep and did not advance too much. As a result, Haaland only touched the ball four times in the penalty area and could not shoot.
"Van Dijk cannot single-handedly stop the top scorer, it is a collective task. But Van Dijk's core strength will ensure Haaland has to work hard to get his 50th goal in the Premier League," Clarke emphasized.
Hong Duy
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