Virgil van Dijk picks his five-a-side team composed only of rivals

Liverpool superstar Virgil van Dijk has been a runaway success since his move to Anfield in 2018. He has since guided the Reds to successive Champions League finals and is on the cusp of the elusive 19th league title.

With football currently suspended, the imperious Dutchman has been busy off the pitch. He has also been putting considerable thought into which rival would be good beside him if he ever took up five-a-side football. Speaking to the club’s official website, Van Dijk revealed the four rival players who would make his team.

Picked solely from our domestic rivals, it is no surprise to see the majority of them come from Manchester City. The Blue half of Manchester has not just been the dominant PL side of the last two seasons but has also been our dogged rivals for some time now.

Van Dijk will be intimately aware of the City players’ strengths, having gone up against them in more than one pulsating encounter.

Virgil van Dijk chose City duo Aymeric Laporte and Kevin De Buryne in his outfield — Aymeric Laporte and Kevin De Bruyne were two of the three City players selected

First off the bat is goalkeeper Ederson. Although the Duchman rates the City No.1 highly, he still feels that Reds custodian Alisson Becker is the better overall choice. An opinion shared by Brazil coach Tite, who also prefers the Liverpool shot-stopper over his City counterpart.

“But I think Ederson is the best of the rest – I think Alisson is still number one, that’s my feeling.”

A quality attack

Ederson is joined in the lineup by teammates Kevin De Bruyne and Aymeric Laporte. The latter is considered the other outstanding centre-half in the league and his pairing with Van Dijk will be a formidable one.

“Kevin De Bruyne, you don’t need to say too much about him.”

De Bruyne is one of the best players in the world due to his vision and passing ability able to pick any defence. Having the Belgian on his side negates the need to worry about facing him. Van Dijk sure comes up with out-of-the-box solutions to nullify the opposition attack.

Virgil van Dijk has a high opinion of Heung-Min Son — Heung-Min Son was the best player for Tottenham in last season’s Champions League final

The team is rounded off by the London duo of Heung-Min Son and Pierre-Emerick Aubemeyang. A well-rounded attacker, the Spurs maestro is a handful while Aubemeyang’s goalscoring ability is undoubted.

The Gabonese international made the cut over the likes of Sergio Aguero. This shows the reputation he has built up in England since making the move from the Bundesliga.

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Van Dijk’s side is a formidable one that could have a few peers. Not only is it defensively sound, but there is also creativity all over the pitch right through the goalkeeper to the striker. Liverpool wouldn’t want to be the ones facing this bunch and especially not our Dutch colossus at the heart of it all.