Footage has captured Virgil van Dijk announcing Xherdan Shaqiri’s presence as though he is royalty following his brace in Liverpool’s 3-1 win over Manchester United.
The Swiss international came off the bench in the second half to earn the hosts a deserved three points with two well-worked, and admittedly deflected, quick-fire goals.
His strikes took his tally to five for the season across all competitions following his summer arrival from Stoke City for what is proving a bargain fee of £13million.
Not only did Shaqiri produce the finishing touches Liverpool required, but he proved key in injecting some much-needed composure in and around the penalty area following a brief spell of wild long-range efforts from the Reds.
Liverpool’s ‘Inside Anfield’ was at hand to catch the full-time tunnel reaction on camera, including Van Dijk’s rather fitting greeting.
“Big Shaq in the building,” the Dutchman can be heard shouting.
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A string of impressive performances of late has seen the forward play his way into starting contention across a vital festive period for the club.
With the vast improvement of Fabinho and Naby Keita equating to a greater reliability, Klopp will be feeling increasingly relaxed about deploying Shaqiri in his more attacking 4-2-3-1 system on a more regular basis.
It’s been a long time since Liverpool boasted such an array of game-changers off the bench.