Xavi Simons claims Liverpool have the strongest player he’s ever seen in their squad right now

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Liverpool have one of the strongest players in the Premier League on their books, yet their set-piece record remains poor.

On the back of last weekend’s action, the Reds have shipped 10 goals from corners, free-kicks, and throw-ins across 2025/26.

That is the joint-worst record along with West Ham United and Nottingham Forest.

Who was your Man of the Match during Liverpool’s brilliant 1-0 win over Inter Milan?

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Liverpool have let in a total of 24 goals in 15 Premier League matches, with both of their first-choice centre-backs coming in for scrutiny at times this term.

Virgil van Dijk named strongest player as he dominates Premier League statistic

Ibrahima Konate’s form has worried Jamie Carragher, while fans have expressed concern about Virgil van Dijk.

So, given how both players have been off their game, and Liverpool are unable to stop letting in set-pieces, supporters may be quick to blame them.

Well, while Van Dijk and Konate seem like the obvious culprits, the stats and Xavi Simons’ verdict suggest the former is not the problem.

When asked to build the ideal player on Spurs’ official TikTok account, Simons selected the Liverpool stopper and his fellow countryman as the strongest player.

Moreover, according to Fbref, Van Dijk has won the most aerial duels (81) of every single player in the Premier League this term.

Arne Slot on Liverpool’s set-piece problem

The finger could instead be pointed at his centre-back partner Konate, but again, the stats suggest he’s quite good in the air as well.

The Frenchman has won 51 aerial duels this term, the fourth-most in the top-flight behind Sepp van den Berg and James Tarkowski.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear as though Arne Slot knows how to fix the issue either.

Speaking after the recent draw with Leeds United, as per ESPN, he said: “I don’t think there’s any team in the world that can be in a higher league position than we are if you concede 10 set-pieces.

“Then it’s hardly possible to be in a higher position or having more points than we have if you concede so many of those.

“For me, it’s not the set-up, because it’s the same set-up as we had last season where we hardly conceded — or didn’t concede at all, in the first half of the season.

“In this set-up there are a lot of similar players that are mainly important. So, tell me what it is. If I tell you now it’s bad luck, then you will probably say that’s a bit too much after 15 games.”