Gabriel Agbonlahor says Liverpool have an ‘outstanding’ defender who was brilliant against Ipswich

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Liverpool emerged as comfortable winners during Saturday’s Premier League opener against Ipswich Town.

It had looked like a tricky assignment for the Reds as their hosts made a first appearance in the top division since 2002.

In terms of a first match for new head coach Arne Slot, there could certainly have been kinder draws and so it proved with a struggle of a first-half.

But after riding a bit of a storm from Ipswich, Liverpool stepped things up in the second-half.

A number of players shone, with Ryan Gravenberch doing well in the number six midfield role, notably. According to Gabriel Agbonlahor, though, Gravenberch was not the only Dutchman impressing at Portman Road.

Gabriel Agbonlahor hails Virgil van Dijk

It was a little tough to pick a man of the match for Liverpool after Saturday’s game. Mohamed Salah invariably won the award from TNT Sports and from Liverpool on social media.

The Egyptian was the decisive player in the end, with a goal and an assist to go with a dangerous performance.

Although Salah’s finish – a record-breaking ninth on the opening day of the Premier League season – displayed his typical poaching prowess, the goal started to be cooked way back at the other end of the pitch.

Over the years, the sight of Virgil van Dijk pinging an inch-perfect cross field ball to Salah has become commonplace. And the centre-back was at it again on Saturday, picking out his teammate’s toe with typical precision.

READ MORE: Liverpool think there are two centre-backs they could sign to replace Virgil van Dijk next year

From there, Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai did the rest. But speaking on TalkSPORT, pundit Agbonlahor made sure to highlight Van Dijk’s contribution in putting the game to bed for Liverpool.

“Van Dijk for me is Mr Reliable now,” says the former striker. “I will talk about his pass. That pass he played to Salah which led to the Salah goal was outstanding, that’s what he offers from that position.

“But he has just got that presence of dealing with strong, big strikers. He’s not bothered. He has got that natural defensive ability of knowing where to be at the right time.

“He has got the aggression and strength, and to have all that with the pace and then you can set up goals with your cross-field balls and your passing, for me, he’s an outstanding defender and he started the season off as one of the best defenders of the weekend.”

Is Virgil van Dijk signing a new contract?

As Agbonlahor correctly points out, Van Dijk is still one of the best defenders around. There isn’t anyone in world football who you would rather have marshalling your back line.

At 33, the Dutchman is obviously into his last few years at the top level. But on the evidence of what we’ve seen over the past 12 months, they should be spent at Liverpool.

Given how important he is to the Reds, there’s no way they should be letting him leave on a free transfer at the end of the season.

Nevertheless, there are still no positive updates to report surrounding Van Dijk’s contract situation.

For the time being, it seems to be heading towards the centre-back leaving for nothing once 2024/25 draws to a close. That would clearly be a mistake, so let’s hope that there’s a shift in approach soon.