Virgil van Dijk provides one positive from City humiliation

Some Liverpool fans are taking one positive from the 4-1 humiliation at the hands of Manchester City in the Premier League.

The Champions were humbled at Anfield by Pep Guardiola’s side after Alisson Becker made two huge mistakes.

City went 1-0 up thanks to Ilkay Gundogan, who earlier missed a penalty before Mohamed Salah leveled things with his own spot-kick.

Liverpool can take a Virgil van Dijk positive

If Jurgen Klopp thought the Reds would push on from there, he would have ended the match sorely disappointed. Gundogan made it 2-1 with his second of the night before former Liverpool man Raheem Sterling got the third and wonderkid Phil Foden added a fourth.

Alisson was directly at fault for the third and fourth after his misplaced passes in dangerous areas gifted Man City the chance to extend their lead in the game and in the Premier League.

After the game Klopp blamed Alisson’s errors on having ‘cold feet’, and fans scrambled to find a silver lining in the middle of that horror show.

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"The manager said: “I don’t know, there is not a real explanation there. Maybe he had cold feet or something. That sounds funny but it could be. But there is still the opportunity to kick it in the stands.“Ali has saved our life plenty of times, no doubt about that. Tonight he made two mistakes, that is how it is.”"

We all knew this would be a difficult game, and a difficult season, after Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip suffered season-ending injuries.

It’s really allowed us to see how good van Dijk is – and how much he means to this Liverpool side. That’s the positive many fans are trying to take from this fixture.

With him in the side, Klopp’s men are a different beast. They’re able to press and to cover the space behind their defensive line, while the giant Dutchman adds a threat from set-pieces.

Without him, we’re able to truly appreciate what a world-class talent van Dijk is. Comparisons between him and Ruben Dias have been made, but they’re truly premature and Dias’s performance tonight proves that.

Things will get better next season. With van Dijk and Gomez securing the heart of defence, Liverpool will have their revenge.