Van Dijk wishes he had Matip´s quality after defenders net in Leeds rout

Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk hailed Joel Matip after both men found the net in a 6-0 thrashing of Leeds United, saying he wishes he had his defensive partner’s technical ability.

Between two Mohamed Salah penalties, Matip strode forward to open his account for the season with a superb goal, while Van Dijk later completed the scoring after Sadio Mane had struck twice against the strugglers.

The dominant victory moved Jurgen Klopp’s men to within three points of the Premier League summit, while Van Dijk and Matip contributed to Liverpool’s 14th Premier League clean sheet of the campaign – only leaders Manchester City (15) have more.

However, it was Matip’s dribbling ability that came in for praise from his partner, after the German defender’s fantastic goal.

“It [dribbling out from the back] is a big quality of his,” Van Dijk told the club’s website after the win. “I wish I had that quality at times.

“He just can go without any fear at all and hope for the best a little bit.

“But he has that quality. It’s a big strength of his and obviously it’s useful because it drags other players from their position. Today, obviously, the space was there to make that run and finish it off. 

“I said to him before the game I felt it coming because he had an assist for Diogo [Jota, in a recent 2-0 win over Leicester] and I said, ‘A goal is next!’

“So I’m obviously very happy for him.”

A clean sheet and a goal each for big Virg and Joel pic.twitter.com/0OfgrXzSYl

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) February 23, 2022

Matip has already made over twice as many Premier League appearances this season (21) as he did last term (10), and Van Dijk is delighted to see his defensive partner avoiding injuries, also praising the competition between the duo and fellow centre-backs Ibrahima Konate and Joe Gomez, the latter of whom has appeared just five times in the top flight in 2021-22 after recovering from a serious knee injury.

“Mentally he [Matip] is at a good place,” Van Dijk continued.

“The four of us, because we cannot forget Joe, who is obviously not even in the squad at the moment, but four of us are keeping each other as sharp as we can. 

“We need everyone and obviously it’s very good to see that he is fit, he is playing on a high level and whether I play with him, Ibou or Joe, it’s always good to be out there together.”

Title-chasing Liverpool are now unbeaten in their last 26 home matches in all competitions (19 wins, seven draws), since losing six in a row at Anfield in early 2021 – every other Premier League side has suffered at least one loss in their own ground this season.