Van Dijk names former Arsenal and Chelsea star as toughest opponent

• Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk has revealed his toughest opponent
• Van Dijk admitted he struggled against the former Arsenal and Chelsea star 
• CHRIS SUTTON: I suspect Jadon Sancho will outlast Erik ten Hag at Man United – It’s All Kicking Off 

Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk has named a former Arsenal and Chelsea star as his most difficult opponent.

Van Dijk is widely seen as one of the standout defenders in world football but he has often had difficulties when coming up against one particular player.

The centre-back admitted that the player in question often managed to find the net against him.

Virgil van Dijk has named an ex-Arsenal and Chelsea player as his toughest opponent

Van Dijk named Olivier Giroud as his most difficult opponent.

Asked about his toughest opponent, van Dijk told France Football: ‘Olivier Giroud. Every time, you think you’ve got a hold of him, that you’ve got him well marked, but he always manages to score in one way or another: with his head, his foot, his knee. He has often scored against me.’

Giroud played against van Dijk for Arsenal and Chelsea, but the Dutch defender will be pleased that the striker is now operating away from the Premier League with AC Milan. The pair also faced each other at international level, with Giroud France’s all-time record goalscorer.

Van Dijk discussed his problems playing against Giroud and described him as his ‘bogeyman’.

He said: ‘I always felt like I got him, but somehow, he always managed to score. Whether it was for Arsenal, Chelsea or France, he always scored.

‘I said to him when we won the league, we won 5-3 [against Chelsea] we were 3-0 up or something and he scored a scrappy goal, I think it was against the crossbar and fell down, scrappy goal, I said to him: ‘You scored again?!’

Van Dijk has admitted that he often struggled when he came up against Olivier Giroud

Van Dijk also faced Giroud at international level when the Netherlands took on France

IT’S ALL KICKING OFF! 

It’s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football, with a show every Monday and Thursday this season.

It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube , Apple Music and Spotify

As well as Giroud, van Dijk stated that Sergio Aguero, Erling Haaland and Gabriel Jesus are also very difficult to defend against.

‘So I would say he (Giroud) is the guy that scores against me, and just that annoying person. There’s so many fantastic strikers I’ve played against, [Lionel] Messi, Aguero, Haaland is a difficult one because he has everything, but I’m going for Giroud as he’s my bogeyman – annoying!’

Read more