Jurgen Klopp has found the perfect van Dijk clone
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has found his perfect Virgil van Dijk clone and he must be unleashed against Leicester City in the Premier League.
We’ve lost a lot thanks to the injury to our best defender. Klopp can no longer call on the Dutchman’s tangible qualities such as his pace, passing ability, and defensive attributes, but they’ve also lost something else.
Virgil van Dijk is a leader, he’s vocal and he’s the glue that holds the back four together. As well as that, he’s also a massive target at set-pieces and a regular source of goals.
Liverpool have a Virgil van Dijk clone
He scored five last season and four in 2019/2020, which proves his threat in the air and his contribution at both ends of the field. Van Dijk had also scored once in five Premier League games, and we can safely assume that he was on the way to hitting that three, four, five target.
In Ozan Kabak, Klopp has a van Dijk clone and he should be unleashed against the Foxes. Kabak is a big unit and doesn’t mind getting on the end of set-pieces himself and has scored three goals per season for his first two in the Bundesliga.
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Both defenders xG is remarkably similar. Van Dijk’s is 0.08, Kabak is at 0.07 – thanks to fbref for the stats – and Klopp can really make the most of the Turkish international’s ability in the air and the way he attacks set-pieces.
Liverpool need to unleash Ozan Kabak
Where once they look dangerous at every turn, the Reds have looked poor from dead-ball situations. That could be because of a lack of targets, Joel Matip was such a threat as well, but with Kabak in the squad, Liverpool are one step closer to fixing that problem.
This team are short on confidence, short on goals, and in need of points. They also know about the importance of marginal gains.
With Kabak in the squad, Klopp has access to a van Dijk clone that can deliver the small margins and a few set-piece goals as well.
Other Liverpool news
In other news, we’re interested in taking a Real Madrid starlet, and Zinedine Zidane favourite, away from Spain.
But it might require some creative accounting in the summer.