Any conversation surrounding Virgil van Dijk usually descends into a discussion of where the Liverpool captain sits in the pantheon of great Premier League defenders.

With a second league crown under his belt now, has the Dutchman climbed above the likes of Nemanja Vidic, Tony Adams, John Terry and Vincent Kompany in the all-time list?

Michael Owen goes one step further.



The appointment of Arne Slot and the arrival of a more considered, possession-heavy structure helping to add another string to an already-crowded bow.

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Van Dijk, of course, is not the only member of this current Liverpool roster to be mentioned alongside the Premier League’s elite.

Trent Alexander-Arnold and particularly Mo Salah would feature in many hypothetical, Premier League-era ‘dream teams’.

And one-time Anfield stalwart Danny Murphy feels that no discussion of Liverpool’s second top-flight triumph is complete without mention of the imperious Alisson Becker.

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Murphy, an FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup winner with the team from the red half of Merseyside, is the first to admit that he is no expert in the minutiae of shot-stopping.

But he feels that, with the possible exception of Manchester United icon Peter Schmeichel, no goalkeeper since the competition’s advent in 1992 can rival Alisson when it comes to out-winning centre-forwards one-v-one.

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“Goalkeeping is not my expertise but, as strikers going in on goalkeepers, it feels like he is the best I’ve seen in one on ones,” Murphy says on Optus Sport’s Kelly and Wrighty Show.

[Kelleher stepping in for Alisson] was seamless, to the point where people weren’t even talking about Alisson when he was out,” says Wright, the Arsenal legend.

“The closer you’re getting, the smaller the goal behind him is, and the bigger he is looking.

“He seems to relish those moments more than the strikers,” adds Murray, scorer of 26 Premier League goals in 96 appearances for Brighton and Hove Albion.

The way he comes out and just swats it away…

“For me, he is the best in the Premier League.”


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