Virgil van Dijk names unexpected toughest Liverpool opponent who 'always scores'
Liverpool's captain Virgil van Dijk has named former Arsenal and Chelsea star Olivier Giroud as the toughest opponent has has faced.
In an interview with France Football, Van Dijk was asked to identify the most difficult attacker he has played against. Giroud, a World Cup winner with France who scored 90 goals in the Premier League, was the player the centre-back opted for.
Van Dijk said: "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."
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The Netherlands skipper also mentioned Sergio Aguero, Erling Haaland and Gabriel Jesus as being challenging to defend against. This isn't the first time Van Dijk has spoken about Giroud being a tough opponent - he previously referred to him as his "bogeyman" in a chat with Gary Neville on The Overlap.
"I always felt like I got him, but somehow, he always managed to score," said the Reds defender. "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?!'
"So I would say he 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!"
Giro
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