Jamie Carragher thinks that Liverpool will have a defensive partnership of Virgil Van Dijk and Joel Matip in Sunday’s Carabao Cup final.
The pundit also hailed Van Dijk whilst writing a “Carabao Cup final dossier” for The Telegraph.
“The biggest problem for Chelsea is that Virgil van Dijk is in such form he will not care who he is facing this weekend,” wrote Carragher.
“Liverpool kept their 21st clean sheet of the season against Leeds United – the most of any side playing in Europe’s top five leagues. Van Dijk was not at his best at Stamford Bridge when the teams last met. He is now.”
That’s fair to say. Understandably, the Dutchman has taken a little while to click into top gear after 10 months out with an ACL tear.
But he has been back to his sensational best over recent weeks. His goal against Leeds United on Wednesday means that he will be flying coming into the final.
“I would expect Jurgen Klopp to pair him with Joel Matip – the tried-and-trusted combination,” said Carragher.
An all time great partnership
Matip and Van Dijk are threatening to become one of Liverpool’s best ever centre-back pairings.
As Carra points out, the Reds have now kept 21 clean sheets this season. 14 of those have been in the 25 games that Matip and Van Dijk have been partnered together.
This makes them comfortably Klopp’s first choice duo.
Despite his options in the position, the manager obviously likes the way the two players compliment each other.
They were Liverpool’s pairing on the road to winning the Champions League in 2019. Matip missed most of the next two season’s through injury and it looked as though the 30-year-old would never return to his best form.
But those doubts have proven misplaced and he now once again looks like one of the best centre-back’s in Europe.
His wonderful give-and-go with Mohamed Salah against Leeds United led to a goal that had been a long time coming.
As proven in Van Dijk’s reaction to his defensive colleagues goal, the two are obviously close off the pitch as well as understanding each other on it.
Liverpool have had many brilliant defensive duos over the years. Carragher himself can point to his legendary partnership with Sami Hyypia.
But if Liverpool can win major silverware this season, Matip and Van Dijk could outdo them all.
Receive a digest of our best Liverpool content each week direct to your mailbox
