Danny Murphy has named just one Liverpool player in his 2023/24 Premier League Team of the Season.
The Reds were in the title race for large parts of the campaign. They even looked like the favourites to pip Arsenal and Manchester City for the top spot, but a few terrible results in April cost them – two draws and two defeats in six league games.
One player, however, has caught Murphy’s eye, so much so that the pundit believes he is the big reason why Liverpool were even in the Premier League title race.
Danny Murphy explains why he picked Virgil van Dijk in his Team of the Season
Virgil van Dijk had a difficult two years before the start of the 2023/24 season.
Yes, he was still up there with the best defenders in the world, but he will be the first one to admit that he wasn’t at his absolute best.
Since the start of this season, however, Van Dijk has looked much closer to his usual self. Some say he has been even better than Mohamed Salah for Liverpool.
The Dutchman has played 47 games for the Reds in all competitions so far this term, and he has been one of their best players.
He scored the winner in the Carabao Cup final to help his side win their only trophy of the season, and his performances in the Premier League have been brilliant as well – only the top two teams have conceded fewer goals than Liverpool.
Danny Murphy had a number of options to choose from when he was picking his two centre-backs for his Premier League Team of the Season.
He chose William Saliba on one side, and on the other, he snubbed the likes of Gabriel Magalhaes, Ruben Dias and Micky van de Ven to name Van Dijk instead.
Murphy claimed that the Dutch skipper is one of the biggest reasons why Liverpool were even in the conversation of winning the Premier League title.
He said on talkSPORT: “The two centre-halves, I thought the only one who came to mind who I think deserves a mention but didn’t get in was [Micky] Van de Ven, another one at Tottenham, first season has been good.
“But I’ve gone for [Virgil] Van Dijk and [William] Saliba, pretty easy to choose those two, been a cut above the others.
“[Van Dijk has] been outstanding, absolutely outstanding, big reason why Liverpool have been able to even mount a charge [for the title], get to the point in the season where they were still in it, he’s been outstanding.”
Virgil van Dijk and William Saliba’s stats in 2023/24 compared
William Saliba and Virgil van Dijk are among the best centre-backs in Europe.
The Frenchman has been absolutely incredible for Arsenal since he got an opportunity at the start of the 2022/23 campaign.
At Anfield, Van Dijk is arguably the biggest reason behind Liverpool‘s success under Jurgen Klopp, which includes the Premier League and the Champions League titles.
Here’s what the stats say about the two defenders this season.
Saliba has played every single minute of every game for Arsenal in the Premier League this term. He averages 1.1 tackles, 0.8 interceptions and 2.1 clearances per game. The Frenchman also wins 1.9 aerial duels per 90 minutes (WhoScored).
Van Dijk, on the other hand, beats Saliba in every one of the above metrics. He averages 1.1 tackles, 1 interception and 4 clearances per game having played nearly 250 minutes less than Saliba. The Liverpool skipper also wins 3.9 aerial duels per game (WhoScored).
However, the important thing to remember here is that Van Dijk is nearly 10 years older than Saliba.
That means that if the Frenchman continues to develop in the same way, there’s every chance he will surpass Van Dijk’s legacy in the coming years.