Jamie Carragher couldn’t hide his feelings on a dramatic night for his beloved Reds, as Liverpool came from a goal down to secure a 4-1 win over Luton on Wednesday night.
Jurgen Klopp’s injury-ravaged side appeared to be in for a very frustrating night when the Hatters took the lead at Anfield through Chiedozie Ogbene after just 11 minutes.
However, the Reds put in a stunning second-half display that saw goals from Virgil van Dijk, Cody Gakpo, Luis Diaz and Harvey Elliott to seal victory and extend their lead at the top of the Premier League table.
The win marked a massive 22 points rescued from losing positions by Liverpool saw far this season, with Klopp’s men earning the ‘mentality monsters’ tag.
The comeback started with captain Van Dijk, who led by example, blasting in a header from Alexis Mac Allister’s corner on 56 minutes to begin the turnaround.
After a tense opening half, the goal led to collective jubilation (and relief) for Reds all over the globe, including one Mr Carragher, who went through an ’emotional rollercoaster’ on the night.
The legendary former Liverpool defender was on punditry duty for CBS Sports alongside his fellow pundit Micah Richards, who uploaded a clip of Carra’s reaction to the equaliser to Instagram.
Asked for his ‘analysis’ of Van Dijk’s goal, Carragher replied: “You don’t need to analyse that. Look at the colossus, look at him, look at him! A marvel of modern science. He is the best centre-back the Premier League has ever seen, by a mile.”
When pressed on his big claim by Richards, Carragher admitted he himself was not in the conversation to be considered the Premier League’s best ever, but conceded John Terry “could play alongside him [Van Dijk].”
The former Liverpool star also joked that ex-Manchester United centre back Rio Ferdinand — a player regularly mentioned among the all-time greats — is “a poor man’s Virgil van Dijk”.
The stats back up just how impressive Liverpool’s skipper has been of late.
As noted by Squawka, the Dutchman has now played four Premier League games in a row (Arsenal, Burnley, Brentford, Luton) without losing a single aerial duel (winning 21 in total).
Meanwhile, no defender has scored more than Van Dijk’s 18 Premier League goals since 2018/19.
Wednesday’s victory also means that in 93 Premier League games at Anfield, Van Dijk has won 77, drawn 15 and still lost just once.
