Virgil van Dijk saw his Anfield unbeaten record come to an end since joining Liverpool from Southampton as Leeds United secured a late winner against Jurgen Klopp’s men on Saturday, October 29, 2022.
Before his team’s defeat to Leeds on Saturday, Virgil van Dijk had gone nearly five years without experiencing Premier League defeat at Anfield.
The loss to Leeds United on Saturday night ended Virgil van Dijk’s extraordinary Premier League streak of 70 games without a defeat at Anfield.
He was unable to thwart Leeds’ snatch-and-grab, though, as Crysencio Summerville scored the game-winning goal for Jesse Marsch’s team.
In a shocking outcome, Crysencio Summerville’s injury-time goal gave the visitors the victory, handing the Red its first home loss of the season in any competition.
The visitors got on the board first through Rodrigo, but Mohamed Salah made sure the score was tied at halftime before the late drama.
Surprisingly, this was the first time in Van Dijk’s tenure at the Merseyside club, which he joined from Southampton in January 2018, that he lost at Anfield in a league match. He had 59 victories under his belt before Leeds’ arrival, 11 ties, and no losses.
However, Summerville’s late goal made sure that amazing perseverance came to an abrupt stop, and Jesse Marsch’s team seized the win to continue the Red’s inconsistent play this season. It was their fourth Premier League loss of the year, which is twice as many as they experienced throughout the whole 2021–2022 season.
Naturally, Liverpool has dropped Premier League games at Anfield while Van Dijk has been a member of the team, but they all happened at once in the 2020–21 season while the Dutchman was sidelined with a serious injury.
After going more than three calendar years without losing a Premier League game at home, the Reds suffered back-to-back home losses against Burnley, Brighton, Manchester City, Everton, Chelsea, and Fulham between January and March of that season.
Liverpool’s defensive injuries that season included Van Dijk who sat out the entire term. When Nat Phillips and Rhys Williams were frequently used in such places due to Joel Matip and Joe Gomez’s extended absences, Jordan Henderson and Fabinho were also forced to move into the central defensive positions.
The Reds’ Premier League record at this point matches that of Roy Hodgson’s Liverpool team from 2010–11 with four wins, four draws, and four losses.
With 16 points right now, the Reds are only five points ahead of Leicester City in 18th place and a staggering 13 points behind table-toppers Manchester City.
Van Dijk has previously fallen short in games played at Anfield in various tournaments. The Reds were ousted from the FA Cup Fourth Round during his first month with the team when West Brom shocked everyone by winning 3-2 at the stadium.
Two years later, in the Round of 16 of the Champions League, they were defeated 3-2 at home by Atletico Madrid following extra time. Then, earlier this year, Liverpool went to the last eight in the same competition’s Round of 16 at the stadium against Inter despite Inter recording a one-goal victory at their home ground.
