Liverpool made it two wins from two in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon and after the 2-0 victory, Virgil van Dijk explained why Leeds United are often on his mind.
Van Dijk, 33, clocked up his 100th Premier League appearance for Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday as goals from Luis Diaz and Mo Salah were enough to get the better of Thomas Frank’s Brentford on Merseyside.
The Netherlands captain’s record at Anfield in the Premier League is utterly remarkable. Having clocked up a 48th clean sheet in his 100th Premier League outing, van Dijk also secured an incredible 82nd win.
Of the remaining 18 games, van Dijk has drawn 16 times at Anfield in the Premier League and lost on just two occasions. The most-record time, a 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace during the 2023-24 campaign.
Van Dijk explains why Leeds defeat remains ‘painful’ to him
England star Eberechi Eze scored the only goal of the game last season, as Palace surprised Liverpool and van Dijk. But the first defeat at Anfield came when Crysencio Summerville scored in the dying embers.
A 2-1 Leeds win and the highlight of a dismal spell in charge under Jesse Marsch that saw Rodrigo score to take the lead after a Joe Gomez mistake, before Summerville cancelled out Mo Salah’s equaliser.
On his 100th outing, van Dijk told Sky Sports (25/08, 6.44PM) that the defeat to Leeds and his fellow countryman and new West Ham star Summerville scoring the winner still haunts him to this day.
“Yeah, that’s not bad (his record at Anfield),” he said. When asked if he is thinking about the two he lost, Van Dijk then replied: “Oh, yeah. I do actually. I do actually. Obviously, the Leeds one was a painful one.”
Where are they now? The Leeds side that beat Liverpool 2-1
Leeds came under a barrage of pressure but perhaps, Illan Meslier’s best-ever performance in a Leeds shirt kept the Reds at bay as time and time again, the Frenchman denied Liverpool forward Darwin Nunez.
Meslier is one of only three players in that side that remain at Leeds. Rasmus Kristensen and Robin Koch are at Frankfurt and Liam Cooper is a free agent, set for a move to Cody Drameh’s new side Hull City.
Marc Roca is at Diego Llorente’s Real Betis, Tyler Adams is with Luis Sinisterra at Bournemouth. Jack Harrison is on loan again at struggling Everton while Summerville has joined West Ham for a £25m fee.
Brenden Aaronson is the last of the three still in a Leeds shirt, while Rodrigo is with Qatari side Al-Rayyan. Pascal Struijk is the third of the three still at Leeds, with both Struijk and Meslier now vice-captains.
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