Not Superman now, but still among the elite. Carragher assessed Van Dijk

Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher believes that Virgil van Dijk was prematurely excluded from the list of the best Premier League defenders.

"Van Dijk should be a talisman for Liverpool in their title pursuit, and there are positive signs. He is one of the finest central defenders in Premier League history. It's no surprise that Liverpool's resurgence has coincided with the Dutchman finding his form.

The knee operation likely did have an impact, but recent criticisms of his performance are based on how good van Dijk was. Defensively, van Dijk has gone from being a superhuman to a human. But he remains one of the top four central defenders in the Premier League. From 2018 to 2021, he performed at a level I've never seen from a central defender. The only one in the Premier League who can come close to that level is John Terry," wrote Jamie Carragher in his column for The Telegraph.

Recall that in the fall of 2020, Virgil van Dijk suffered a severe injury, which required nearly a year of recovery. The injury did indeed affect his performance, but van Dijk remains a key player for Liverpool.

It was previously revealed that Liverpool would top an alternative Premier League table.