Virgil van Dijk was named man of the match by Amazon Prime in Liverpool’s 2-0 win at Burnley this evening, although Jurgen Klopp offered one name who he felt would also have been a worthy recipient of that billing.
On a night when several Reds players impressed as they dominated almost from the first whistle at Turf Moor, the manager was keen to give praise to the contribution of Wataru Endo against the Clarets.
Speaking to Amazon Prime after the victory, the German stated (via Liverpool World): “Virgil was man of the match, absolutely fine. Another one who could have been in contention was Wataru Endo.
“My God, what a game he played. I would have loved to have seen the game without him; that would have been really strange.”
Endo has had to wait until Alexis Mac Allister’s recent injury to enjoy a prolonged run of starts in the Liverpool team, but he’s grown into one of our most consistent players over the past month.
This evening he completed 65 of his 77 passes (84% success rate), won six duels, recorded one shot on target, played two key passes and made three clearances, one interception and one tackle (Sofascore).
The 30-year-old got away with one potentially costly moment when, with the score at 1-0 in the final few minutes, he gifted the ball to Jacob Bruun Larsen, who thankfully fired wide and let the Japan captain off the hook.
Other than that uncharacteristically sloppy episode, though, Endo can have every reason to be pleased with another largely solid performance at the heart of Liverpool’s midfield, of which he’s now an integral part.
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