Is Ruben Dias a very, very good defender? Yes – obviously.
Is he in Virgil van Dijk’s league? No – obviously.
We remember a time when many were claiming Aymeric Laporte was as good as VVD – now he can’t get in the starting XI.
Simon Johnson of the Athletic tweeted that Dias doesn’t get the same credit van Dijk did when he first moved to Liverpool, but the reasons why are pronounced.
City would still win without Dias. Liverpool didn’t and haven’t been able to win without the Dutchman.
We quite like how @lfcnxsir put it on Twitter, in all honesty:
There was long hope that Virg would be back for our season’s run-in, but with five games left, what’s the point?
Our top four chances are not blown, but fairly close to being – and it’s best the world’s best centre-back gets a few more months rehab in his locker before returning to the lineup next season.