Virgil van Dijk is a special player, Liverpool lucky to have him: Joe Gomez

Liverpool's Dutch defender Virgil van Dijk (L) runs off to celebrate leaving Manchester United's Spanish goalkeeper David de Gea (2R) rooted to his position after Van Dijk scored the opening goal during the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Manchester United at Anfield stadium in Liverpool, north west England on January 19, 2020. (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP)


Liverpool defender Joe Gomez feels that centre-back Virgil van Dijk is a special player and the club are lucky to have the player in the team.

“I’m buzzing for Virg. Everyone knows how happy I am when he scores and it’s nice for us to put work in in training on those set-pieces and then they come off,” Gomez was quoted as saying on the club’s official website.

“I don’t think it’s easy to measure what he does for us as a team. He’s such a dominant character, a dominant player. He’s a special player and we’re lucky to have him at the club – he’s my big brother! He’s a top player and a top person to be alongside,” he added.

In Sunday’s Premier League tie against Manchester United, Liverpool outplayed the Red Devils 2-0. Van Dijk drew the first blood in the 14th minute and Mohamed Salah killed the game in the 93rd minute.

“We would have liked to have had a bigger lead than 2-0 at the end of the game but the most important thing is that we put in a good performance as a team,” said Gomez.

“We saw it out, rode out the pressure at the end and Mo (Salah) finished it off for us, so there are positives to take from the game and we know what this game means. Onto the next one,” the defender added.

Liverpool with 64 points from 22 games so far top the table, maintaining a 16-point gap with second-placed Manchester City.