Liverpool have had a number of really good performers throughout the early weeks of the Premier League season.
The Reds are currently sitting right at the top of the league after seven games of the new campaign.
Liverpool have a tough run of fixtures coming up after the international break which will doubtless be a real test, but for the time being it is very much so far so good for Arne Slot.
Slot has been keen to push the credit onto his players wherever possible, with the likes of Ryan Gravenberch earning plenty of plaudits.
One who has gone slightly under the radar in that respect is captain Virgil van Dijk. Such is Van Dijk’s brilliance that his consistently fantastic performances sometimes feel to be taken a little for granted.
Thankfully, the 33-year-old does occasionally get the credit he deserves and pundit Gabriel Agbonlahor is the man who has been keen to give it to him after a top showing against Crystal Palace.
Virgil van Dijk praised for ‘outstanding’ display
Obviously, the big news just now is what is going on with Van Dijk off the pitch rather than on it.
With the Dutchman still yet to commit his future to Liverpool, there is real uncertainty over whether he will still be at Anfield this time next year.
From Liverpool’s point of view, you can understand to a degree why they might be unwilling to offer Van Dijk a big, bumper contract at 33 years of age.
However, Virgil has been proving this season that he is still the very best around. The skipper is right at the top of his game.
And after Van Dijk was named man of the match for his performance against Palace, Agbonlahor has explained what he has loved the most about the centre-back’s displays so far this season.
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“I thought he was outstanding once again,” the pundit raved while picking his TalkSPORT team of the week.
“People have questioned Van Dijk after his serious injury when he got taken out by Pickford, but what I loved about him was his composure.
“He’s winning the ball back, he’s taking his time, he has given his team that settling factor at the back. No erratic defending. He’s there first, he is taking his time, he’s playing from the back.
“Nothing got past him on Saturday,” Agbonlahor added. “I thought he was outstanding, and Liverpool really need to get his contract sorted because he would be such a huge loss.”
Liverpool must act decisively with Virgil van Dijk
When Liverpool players have entered the final years of their contracts in the past, it has usually only gone one way.
The likes of James Milner, Roberto Firmino and Gini Wijnaldum were high-profile Bosman exits, while going back further the same fate befell Emre Can, too.
The difference between all of those players and Van Dijk is that the centre-back is still an absolutely key, key man for the Reds.
While the others were all drifting out of the team or on a downward spiral by the time they left, the same is not true at all of Van Dijk.
As Agbonlahor says, the Netherlands international is in terrific form and would be an absolutely enormous – potentially irreplaceable – loss for Liverpool. The Reds need to end this uncertainty and move decisively to tie Van Dijk down for years to come.
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