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Fans Claim Ruben Dias Has Had Greater Impact At Manchester City Than Virgil Van Dijk At Liverpool

Fans Claim Ruben Dias Has Had Greater Impact At Manchester City Than Virgil Van Dijk At Liverpool

Stats suggest City's Portuguese defender has been a lot more effective than Van Dijk was in his first 23 games for Liverpool.

Alex Reid

Alex Reid

Manchester City fans are pointing to statistics that say Ruben Dias has had a much greater impact at their club than Virgil van Dijk had when he arrived at Liverpool.

Both defenders hit the ground running with their clubs, Van Dijk being credited with transforming Liverpool's previously leaky defence when he signed in January 2018 for £75 million from Southampton.

Dias, a £62 million summer transfer from Benfica, has instantly strengthened a City defence which is now the meanest in the Premier League.

One City fan pointed out that Dias's stats in his first 23 games are way above what the more experienced Van Dijk achieved in his first 23 games for Liverpool. Dias has conceded just nine goals as City have kept 15 clean sheets, while VVD conceded 24 goals and kept 10 clean sheets in the same span at Liverpool.

Another pointed out that City have conceded just seven league goals this season with Dias in the team - the same number that Aston Villa scored past Liverpool in one match when Van Dijk was still fit.

This view has provoked a big backlash on Twitter, with many football fans pointing out that Pep Guardiola's defence was in a stronger state when Dias was introduced in 2020 - compared to Van Dijk coming into a team that had Loris Karius in goal (Alisson being signed in the summer of 2018).

An alternative view could be that Van Dijk had plenty of Premier League experience with Southampton, whereas the 23-year-old City centre-back has come from a new league and settled almost instantly. Which makes his performances incredibly impressive.

Van Dijk's absence with a serious ACL injury has undoubtedly had a hugely damaging impact on Liverpool's season. The 29-year-old is a superb all-round defender but also a leader and organiser who makes all of Liverpool's backline better.

Dias, meanwhile, has formed an excellent partnership with a revitalised John Stones as City look much more assured at the back than last season when leaking goals cost them badly - in the Premier League and in Europe.

Is it unfair to compare Van Dijk and Dias on their opening 23 games for their new clubs? Or is the Portuguese centre-back a future great in his position? Let us know in the comments.

Featured image credit: PA Images

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Topics: Manchester City, Liverpool, Football News, Football, Premier League, Virgil Van Dijk, Ruben Dias

Alex Reid is a writer at SPORTbible who’s previously strung words together for FourFourTwo, Boxing News, The Guardian and, yes, Cruise International (it’s about big ships, not Tom). Interests range from football and boxing to real sports like WWE and darts. He is not a cage fighter.

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