‘Something special’: Van Dijk hails Liverpool record breaker Salah

Virgil van Dijk believes it is impossible to overstate Mo Salah’s importance to Liverpool and has emphasised how special the Egypt striker’s record-breaking contribution was during Sunday’s demolition of Manchester United.

Van Dijk and his teammates moved to within three points of the Premier League’s top four by thrashing United 7-0, with Salah, Cody Gakpo and Darwin Núñez scoring two goals apiece before Roberto Firmino added the seventh.

In the process Salah became Liverpool’s leading all-time Premier League goalscorer, leapfrogging Robbie Fowler as he registered his 128th and 129th league goals. “Mo showed why he is so important for this football club, definitely,” said Van Dijk. “He’s been very influential with everything positive over the last couple of years and hopefully he can keep that going.

“For him to be the all-time Premier League top scorer for Liverpool is something no one should take for granted. He definitely shouldn’t and I won’t. He should not just brush it off because it’s something special.”

The Netherlands defender had similarly warm words for Gakpo and Núñez, Salah’s partners in Jürgen Klopp’s front three. “I think a lot of those goals were world class,” said Van Dijk, before expressing particular delight at his Netherlands teammate Gakpo’s display in the wake of the forward’s initially slow-burn January arrival from PSV Eindhoven. “The winter’s a difficult time for any player to come into any club but he’s settling in very well. It’s a difficult position to play. He has to keep going, keep the confidence, keep the belief. I think he will be fine for this club; he’s a fantastic player.”

‘I don’t think it’s Manchester United’: Ten Hag after mauling at Anfield – video

Núñez arrived from Benfica last summer and soon found himself in the midst of the team’s unexpected struggles which, until Sunday endorsed recent hints of an impending renaissance, had largely blemished Liverpool’s season. “Darwin’s causing chaos all the time with his speed, his passion and also the quality,” said Van Dijk. “The front three are very clinical. It’s been a difficult season but this was a great day.”

Firmino has announced he will be leaving in the summer and Van Dijk believes the striker has “legend” status. “I think that position of a false 9 is Bobby Firmino’s,” he said. “He’s been so influential for this football club and he should definitely be remembered as one of the legends.”

skip past newsletter promotion

Sign up to Football Daily

Kick off your evenings with the Guardian’s take on the world of football

Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

after newsletter promotion

The same applies to Van Dijk but he is not planning on leaving Liverpool any time soon and was delighted to have regained his once customary habit of helping Klopp’s team secure clean sheets. “Winning games starts with defending,” said a centre-half whose attention turns next to Saturday’s match at Bournemouth. “We should be full of confidence but very humble and ready for a tough game,” he said.