For the most part, Liverpool’s defensive woes are now a thing of the past – they’ve gone from thinking about how they can make their defence good to how they can make it even better than it already is and that is thanks to the efforts of Virgil Van Dijk, Andrew Robertson and Alisson Becker.
Their main focus now is finding a good defensive partner for Van Dijk and finding cover after a number of injuries – here are three players they could sign on that front.
Kalidou Koulibaly
Liverpool’s second Champions League group game against Napoli was dominated by Virgil Van Dijk and Kalidou Koulibaly with both defenders bossing their respective 18-yard-areas, making important tackles and just outright preventing players from getting past them almost donning an aura that screamed “you shall not pass”.
Imagine what it would be like if both players were on the same team, working in unison to thwart incoming attacks and instil fear into any forward that may be unlucky enough to have the daunting task of breaking Liverpool’s defence down.
That dream partnership could well become reality come January with Liverpool reportedly interested in signing Koulibaly – should they manage to do so, It’s fair to say that the title race would be effectively over.
Video Courtest of WorldOfFootballHD
Matthijs De Ligt
Virgil Van Dijk’s countryman, Mathhijs De Ligt might only be 19 years old, but he’s already become an established member of Ajax’s first team set-up having played 58 league games for the club since 2015 and earned 13 caps for the Dutch national team since 2017.
Being Van Dijk’s defensive partner in the national team set-up, the youngster won’t have to go through the arduous process of getting used to being in a new backline considering he’d have his countryman by his side in defence.
De Ligt is a very smart defender who often assesses the risks involved in making a challenge in a bid to avoid going for the ball at the wrong time and potentially give away a foul. Standing at 6’2, the Dutchman has a huge frame and utilises it to full effect when playing.
He’d cost Liverpool a large chunk, though, considering how highly rated he is.
Video Courtesy of Mathews Football
Daniel Rugani
The return of Leonardo Bonucci to Juventus has caused Daniel Rugani’s playing time to dwindle tremendously compared to last season for the young Italian centre-back.
Rugani has only been involved in four games for Juventus this season due to the strength of the club’s regular backline. Rugani, though, has proven his worth for Juventus in the past having notched 22 league appearances for the club last season and performed so well that Chelsea came calling.
This time, Liverpool could capitalise on the Italian defender’s lack of game time and table a reasonable bid come January.
