Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk has openly acknowledged the pace of Leicester City star Patson Daka.
Van Dijk is no slouch himself, and is one of the quickest defenders around, but even struggled to deal with the pace of the Leicester striker, whose pace he described as “crazy quick” when speaking BT Sport during a post-match interview following his sides 2-0 win over The Foxes.
He said: “We want to keep a high line because we know we can win the ball up high. It’s the risk you have to take.
“Today, I played against Patson Daka, who is crazy quick in my opinion, so you have to be ready.”
Is there anybody calmer than Virgil van Dijk!? ??
Liverpool's colossus joins us on #PLTonight to reflect on this evening's victory over Leicester and discusses with @rioferdy5 what it takes to play in a high line defence ?
? A must-watch ? pic.twitter.com/UhYs4WSfs8
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) February 10, 2022
Daka, a summer signing from RB Salzburg, has scored nine goals in total for Brendan Rodgers side, four of which have come in the Premier League.
He is a long way off of emulating the aging Jamie Vardy in terms of his peak Premier League numbers or impact. But Daka has come up with some big goals for Leicester already.
In another reality, Daka would be on the same side as the Dutchman. On his Here We Go Podcast in September, Fabrizio Romano revealed the now 23-year-old would have been signed by The Reds in the summer if they had been able to offload Swiss international Xherdan Shaqiri and super sub Divock Origi.
It’s funny how the transfer market can lead to a cascading of transfers occurring or not occurring.
Liverpool is greener pasture for Daka patson