Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk is statistically the best centre-back in the Premier League this season

After Liverpool's disappointing end to the 2022/23 season, they were expected to bounce back as top four challengers, but the Reds have gone above and beyond. Despite a heavy list of injured players, Jurgen Klopp's side are competing for another Premier League title as they look to give the manager the ultimate farewell campaign.

After Jordan Henderson left Anfield last summer, Virgil van Dijk was named the new captain of Liverpool — an appointment many fans knew would eventually come. In his first season as skipper, the Dutch powerhouse has four big opportunities to lead his side to silverware, including the Premier League title.

Apart from his red card incident against Newcastle United and the match suspension that followed, van Dijk has played every single minute of Premier League football for the Reds so far. As well as his influential efforts in defence, the centre-back has contributed two goals and two assists. His latest came in the typical fashion of a power header to equalise against Luton Town.

Jamie Carragher was left stunned after the goal and described van Dijk as 'the best centre-back the Premier League has ever seen'. While a lot of football followers will probably suggest the Anfield icon is biased towards the Liverpool star, there are stats to back up that van Dijk is at least the best performing centre-back in the Premier League this season.

According to statistics and ratings provided by WhoScored?, van Dijk is ranked 13th in the entire league, comparing him only with 'players with total appearances greater than the average number of appearances in Premier League'.

Van Dijk has earned himself a rating of 7.30, higher than any other Premier League centre-back so far during the 2023/24 campaign. Let's take a closer look at some of his impressive stats that make up his leading rating.

The defender has one of the highest passing percentages of players who have featured in 20 games or more. His 90.5 percent is in the top 15 for this stat. He is also in the top three for most aerial duels won per game, with an average of 4.5 — only Dominic Calvert-Lewin (4.8) and Oliver McBurnie (5.5) have averaged more.

Van Dijk contributes an average of 1.1 tackles, 1.2 interceptions, 4.4 clearances, and one block per Premier League match this season. He also commits just 0.7 fouls on average, significantly less than others in his position, including Fabian Schär, Harry Maguire, Rúben Dias and even teammate Ibrahima Konaté.

After his influential headed equaliser against Luton Town, van Dijk will undoubtedly be pushing his side to keep spirits up and push through these injury woes. Liverpool have a very good chance of winning at least one trophy this season, but they will be hoping it's a gold rush as they see out this last dance with Klopp.