When Liverpool visited Manchester City for a 1-1 draw in November last season, the matchday programme featured an illustrated preview of the action. It showed Jeremy Doku making a run down the left flank, accompanied by Bernardo Silva and Josko Gvardiol — a fairly accurate depiction of City’s attacking style.
But one part of the image stood out as unusual: Virgil van Dijk, Liverpool’s captain, was shown sliding in to tackle Doku — and missing the ball entirely.
That’s not something you see often. In fact, it’s almost unheard of. During his standout 2018-19 season, Van Dijk played all 38 Premier League matches, made 38 tackles, and remarkably, was not dribbled past a single time.
While elite defenders have always existed, Van Dijk set a new benchmark in the modern, data-driven era — becoming the first centre-back to back up his dominance with a statistically proven reputation for being nearly impossible to beat one-on-one.
