Jamie Carragher says ‘outstanding’ Liverpool player proved he is better than Erling Haaland today

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These games against Liverpool and Manchester City have been a staple of the footballing calendar over the last few years. These are the kind of games that make or break seasons. These are the kind of games that make or break careers.

Today, without getting a victory Liverpool definitely put down a statement against Manchester City. The Reds dominated Pep Guardiola’s side right until the very end.

Klopp’s side should probably have been awarded a penalty on Alexis Mac Allister as well. However, first the referee and then VAR deemed Jeremy Doku’s challenge on the Argentine inside the box to be a fair one. Make of that what you will.

Nonetheless, away from that controversy, Liverpool can be proud of their performance today. Especially, one man who even Jamie Carragher was very impressed by.

Jamie Carragher on Virgil van Dijk

As much as today was about Liverpool vs Manchester City. It was also about Erling Haaland vs Virgil van Dijk. The ‘best’ striker in the Premier League, coming up against the best defender.

Speaking on Sky Sports, Jamie Carragher described Van Dijk’s performance full of awe. The former Liverpool defender also stated that he thinks Van Dijk proved today that he is a better defender than Haaland is a striker.

“The great centre-backs don’t just play their own game, you can control the whole back four. When you look at Liverpool’s back four today, everybody in the stadium is thinking oh, you’re up against Man City, it’s De Bruyne, it’s Haaland,” Carragher said.

“But even though Quansah was outstanding, brilliant, he can concentrate on his own game but the greats look after you and that’s why Van Dijk was man of the match.

“He’s up against Haaland, he’s the best centre forward in the world. For me, Van Dijk is right up there in terms of centre-backs. I actually think Van Dijk is a better centre-back than Haaland is a striker, that’s how highly I rate Van Dijk. I think he’s absolutely outstanding.”

After today’s performance no one can argue with Carragher’s verdict. The Liverpool captain simply dominated Erling Haaland on the night, and didn’t give the Norwegian a sniff at goal. It was the kind of accomplished performance Van Dijk has produced for Liverpool in his prime.