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Alan Shearer raves about £220k-a-week Liverpool man’s display vs Chelsea
Alan Shearer was left very impressed with Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk during one particular moment of Sunday’s Carabao Cup Final before he went on to win the trophy for the Reds at Wembley.
Jurgen Klopp’s side were ravaged by injuries heading into the game and lost midfielder Ryan Gravenberch in the first half.
However, for BBC Sport, Shearer was impressed with the Dutch taliꦓsman during the first half of the matc🅠h.
Shearer praises Van Dijk’s impact for Liverpool
Klopp was dealing with 11 senior injuries heading into the game and Gravenberch was stretched off to add his name to the list of unavailable🍷 players.
Thankfully, captain Virgil van Dijk was available and lined up alongside his preferred centre-back partner Ibrahima Konate.
The impressive Conor Bradley staꦗrted at rไight-back but was pushed further up the pitch to accommodate Joe Gomez who came off the bench for Gravenberch.
The Northern Irishman was influential throughout the match, but it was one moment from🥂 Van Dijk that caught Shearer’s attention just before the break as he played aꦛ key part in one of Liverpool’s best chances.
Without th🀅e attacking trio of Mohamed Salah, Diogo Jota and Darwin Nune𒁃z, it was always going to be interesting to see where the goals came from for the Reds.
Van Dijk influential at both ends of the pitch
Speaking about the defender, Shearer said: “That was brilliant play from Virgil van Dijk to set Liverpool on their ℱway then with a really well-timed tackle on the edge of his own box.
“And they go straight up to the other end 🌜and two or three players had the opportunity to shoot.
“But all of them passed it up and it ended up with Bradle♉y having the shot.”
The ave🥃ra🌺ge age of Liverpool’s bench in the Carabao Cup final was under 19 years old, meaning Klopp had to rely on the senior players who started to lead the squad.
As Shea൲rer points out, Van Dijk was having a fantastic game at both ends of the pitch for Liverpool.
He thought he put his side in front with a phenomenal header, but his effort was ruled out☂ by VAR for offside.
However, the Dutchman had the last laugh, nodding in Konstantinos Tsimikas’s corner in the final minutes of extra-time to win ꦜthe 🌠Carabao Cup for Liverpool.
