Welcoming Tottenham at home, Liverpool had a tough match and only won in the last minute thanks to Toby Alderweireld's own goal. Before that, the away team had a great chance to take the lead in the 85th minute, but Moussa Sissoko was stopped by Van Dijk in the second position to hit 1.
The score was then 1-1 and Liverpool had to attack to score the second goal because if Tottenham held them to a draw at Anfield, it would be no different from a few failures because they were competing for the championship with Man City. It was when The Kop attacked high that they were counterattacked by Tottenham and Van Dijk faced both Heung Min Son and Moussa Sissoko.
At this time, Moussa Sissoko has many options when he can pass conveniently to Son Heung-min who is moving openly or dribble the ball himself and shoot straight into Liverpool's goal.
Understanding that Sissoko was not good at left-footed and could pass directly to Heung-min, Van Dijk ran after this player and prevented Sissoko from making a pass.
After a hesitant minute, Sissoko pushed the ball down for 1 shot but Van Dijk also managed to retreat to close it down, so Sissoko's shot was inaccurate. It can be seen that Van Dijk saved Liverpool from a seemingly lost goal thanks to his smart judgment.
That successful block helped Liverpool gain more confidence and constantly press Spurs before being rewarded at the last minute with Toby Alderweireld's home kick to help Liverpool win 2-1 to return to the top of the Premier League.
Everyone thought that Van Dijk's classy defense was the turning point for Liverpool to win. After the match, coach Mauricio Pochettino also admitted this. Even though Tottenham lost the match, he still praised the opponent's central defender.
Coach Mauricio Pochettino said: "That shows why Liverpool accept to pay 75 million pounds to buy Van Dijk. He put Sissoko in a squat and could not handle it best. I think Sissoko is not at his best in this match, but I am satisfied with his dedication.
Besides his opponent, Van Dijk was also praised by his teammates. Young defender Alexander-Arnold said: Van Dijk has once again shown that he is the best defender in the world at the moment. Of course, we also need a little luck to win such intense matches.
Van Dijk also kept Harry Kane out of the game. Obviously, without the above accurate save, Liverpool could have lost to Tottenham and the risk of Man City breaking through in the Premier League Premier League is very high and Van Dijk is very 'worth the money'.
