"Back to being an absolute Rolls Royce" - Paul Merson suggests one Liverpool star is now at his best

Paul Merson believes that Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk is back at his best following his side's 1-0 win over Manchester City.

Prior to the Reds' victory over City on Sunday, Liverpool were in 10th place in the Premier League table. They had won just two of their opening eight matches, and suffered defeats to Manchester United and Arsenal.

Their Champions League campaign also got off to a bad start. Jurgen Klopp's side lost 4-1 at Napoli in their opening group stage game.

But there has been a recovery in that competition. Liverpool edged past Ajax 2-1 at Anfield, before recording consecutive victories, home and away, against Rangers. The second of those victories came last week, when they demolished Giovanni van Bronckhorst's side 7-1 at Ibrox.

They continued their impressive form with a superb 1-0 win over City - making Liverpool the first English team to stop the Citizens from scoring in a game this season.

Reds defender Joe Gomez was awarded Player of the Match by Sky Sports for his performance at centre-back, whilst James Milner also put in a strong display at right-back.

Speaking as part of his Premier League predictions column for Sportskeeda, Sky pundit Merson noted another player that he believes is back to his best ahead of the Reds' clash against West Ham on Wednesday.

Paul Merson praises Van Dijk performance

Merson explained: "Look at Virgil van Dijk [on Sunday]. He's back to being an absolute Rolls Royce.

"He was up against the best centre-forward in the world [Erling Haaland], and was outstanding at the highest level."

The Arsenal legend also gave high praise to Milner for his display: "James Milner was brilliant - he was the oldest player on the pitch up against the youngest, and I can't express how good that performance was.

"I know Joe Gomez got Man of the Match - and rightly so - but for Milner, at 30-odd years of age, to play like he did against Phil Foden, was unbelievable.

"The Premier League's all about being athletic, quick and strong, and Milner keeps playing at this standard for one of the world's top clubs.

"Every kid should be looking up to him. He's a manager's dream."