Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk believes Ryan Gravenberch is in the form of his life but there is still plenty of room for improvement for the Netherlands midfielder.
The midfielder became the youngest player (23 years and 127 days) to score and assist in a Premier League Merseyside derby, which extended their 100 per cent record to five matches.
Last season’s Premier League young player of the year was coming off arguably his best game for the club in Wednesday’s Champions League victory over Atletico Madrid, and since his conversion to a number six by Arne Slot when the head coach arrived last season his fellow Dutchman has become integral to their success.
Only a year ago Liverpool had done a deal for Real Sociedad’s Martín Zubimendi to fill the role only for the player to back out at the 11th hour, eventually joining Arsenal this summer.
Slot turned to a youngster, who under predecessor Jurgen Klopp had made just 21 starts – nine of which were in cup competitions – in his maiden campaign, and has never looked back.
It makes the £34million they paid Bayern Munich for the former Ajax academy graduate look like a bargain.
“Not just this season, he’s been playing like that from the moment last season started. He’s unbelievable. He’s very important to the way we play,” said Van Dijk.
“You see the amount of times I try to look for him. It benefits him, me and the team. He’s in incredible shape. He’s in the form of his life. He has to keep going. He’s still young.
“The expectation level will always be right up there and that’s what he has to try to reach every three or four days. It’s a nice challenge.
“During his first season here he hardly played either. Listen, it’s a mix of everything: getting confidence, progressing and improving as a player, playing games at the highest level and knowing your role in the team.
“I’m very pleased for him because he puts in a lot of hard work to do what he is doing.”
Gravenberch’s ability to defend and attack has stood out particularly this season.
His goal against Everton was his second in five matches, half the number he got in his first season and two more than he managed in the whole of the title-winning campaign.
It has added an extra dimension to Liverpool’s play as teams can no longer assume he will just hold the centre and allow his more creative team-mates to play.
His 10th-minute goal was perfectly executed, allowing Mohamed Salah’s looping pass to drop before hooking it over goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
The pass he played for £69million summer signing Hugo Ekitike to score his fourth goal in seven matches was perfectly weighted and showed how he is not just a midfield destroyer.
But, following a familiar pattern, Liverpool could not extend their two-goal advantage or even look comfortable holding it and Idrissa Gueye’s 58th-minute strike made for a tense finale.
“I don’t think you can expect any easy games in the Premier League,” added Van Dijk.
“It’s about getting over the line. Of course you want to win comfortably but that’s not always easy. Sometimes you have to fight and that’s what we did in the second half.”
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