Virgil van Dijk sets Ryan Gravenberch challenge after recent performances
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Image Credits: Imago ImagesRyan Gravenberch has been a standout player so far for Liverpool this season.
The Dutch midfielder continued his excellent run of form with another phenomenal display against Everton in the 247th Merseyside Derby yesterday.
He became the youngest player to ever score and assist in the fixture, at the age of 23 years and 127 days.
Gravenberch opened the scoring on the 10th minute mark after hooking home a lofted through ball from Mohamed Salah.
Liverpool didn’t follow a similar trend in this game as there were no late winners to save the day for the Reds.
Hugo Ekitike’s strike doubled the lead after Ryan Gravenberch’s opener and despite an Everton consolation goal arriving in the second half, Arne Slot’s men held out for the win and maintained their perfect start to the Premier League campaign.
Ryan Gravenberch already has four goal contributions six games into the season and for a player who rarely contributes offensively, adding that new layer to his game has made him one of the best midfielders on the planet at the minute.
Following Liverpool’s victory in the Merseyside Derby, Virgil van Dijk was quick to heap praise on to his teammate.
The Liverpool captain has been quietly impressed with Gravenberch this season, but also touched on how decisive he has been since Arne Slot took charge on Merseyside.
“It’s not just this season, he’s been playing like that from the moment last season started.
He’s unbelievable.
He’s very important to the way we play.”
“For me personally, you see the amount of times I try to look for him.
It’s a nice challenge.”
“During his first season here he hardly played either.
Getting confidence, progressing and improving as a player, playing games at the highest level and your role in the team?
I’m very pleased for him because he puts in a lot of hard work to do what he is today.”
Arne Slot confirmed that Ryan Gravenberch, Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai all won’t feature against Southampton in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday as they all played the full ninety minutes against Everton.
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