Virgil van Dijk knows Aston Villa have one 'very, very good player', could make difference on Saturday
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A less confident man would be suffering sleepless nights ahead of Aston Villa’s arrival at Anfield. But if there is one thing Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk does not lack, it’s confidence.
Yet, arguably Europe’s finest central defender has reason to feel unusually wary ahead of Saturday evening’s kick-off.
Because Ollie Watkins’ stoppage time winner for England against the Netherlands at Euro 2024 – firing Gareth Southgate’s team into the final – was not the first time the Aston Villa hitman had dunked on Virgil van Dijk’s head.
Watkins, still a Premier League novice at the time, also slammed a 37-minute hat-trick past Van Dijk and Liverpool during that infamous 7-2 thrashing in those strange lockdown days.
Van Dijk, however, insists that he will not let any past struggles against one of the most aggressive and mobile centre-forwards in English football shake him out of his stride.
Virgil van Dijk looking forward to facing Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins
“Do the Euros play on my mind? No,” Van Dijk says in his typically blunt fashion, speaking to reporters. “I am not that, what do you call it, sentimental? Bitter? I am never bitter.”
This is not to say Liverpool’s powerhouse number four is taking the threat of Watkins lightly. Far from it.
Watkins might have been overshadowed by Villa teammate Jhon Duran at times this term. But Watkins is still averaging a goal every other game at Premier League level.
Not only that, as the Netherlands found out to their peril in Germany, Watkins’ searing pace and relentless endeavour means he is capable of turning hopeful passes into game-winning assists in the blink of an eye.
“I know how good he can be and I think he is a very, very good striker. A good finisher,” Van Dijk adds. “[Watkins always makes it difficult for the defenders, and it will be a good match-up for all of us.
“But no, I don’t think about what happened in the summer. Obviously he scored a good goal. Unfortunately, we couldn’t stop it. But that is football sometimes.
“There’s still a long way to go [this season]. We still got Villa and then I’ve got Hungary and Bosnia with Holland. So let’s focus on those first to stay in form and fit and in a good shape and then we will see.”
Despite Liverpool’s stunning start under Arne Slot, Aston Villa can move to within just four points of the Merseyside giants on Saturday. Then again, that will be easier said than done with Villa fighting not only against Europe’s most in-form side but also against history itself.
Arne Slot expects Unai Emery to stick with his gameplan at Liverpool
The last time Villa won at Anfield – back in 2014 – Steven Gerrard, Lazar Markovic, Mario Balotelli and Ricky Lambert featured for the hosts. Former Aston Villa striker Chris Sutton cannot see that run ending this weekend either.
Liverpool thrashed Bayer Leverkusen 4-0 in the Champions League on Tuesday too, meaning their confidence could hardly be any higher right now.
“Unai Emery has played in a similar style now for years at Aston Villa. It’s almost always the same formation, but it sometimes depends on the player that you can have different characteristics,” Slot said during his pre-match presser.
“But his style of play, his idea about football, has been the same always. Saying this, that also was the situation with [Leverkusen boss] Xabi Alonso, who we studied for I don’t know how many games.
“But never once did he come up with the idea of playing [Victor] Boniface as a left-winger and playing without a number nine!
“If you ask me now, ‘do I expect Unai to change a lot?’, I would not expect that because he never does this. But, in terms of personnel, he can change a bit, he has different options.”
