Richarlison claims Virgil van Dijk is NOT the best defender in the world, boasting 'I've dribbled past him', ahead of Everton vs Liverpool
By Joe Moore
Updated: 19th June 2020, 10:54 am
Everton striker Richarlison may regret doing Liverpool's team talk for them ahead of Sunday's Merseyside derby, having claimed Virgil van Dijk is NOT the best defender in the world.
The runaway Premier League leaders resume their 2019/20 campaign on Sunday at Goodison Park, where a victory will leave them just three points away from being crowned champions.
Richarlison has opened himself up for a big fall when he faces Van Dijk in Sunday's Merseyside derby
And, if that wasn't enough, Richarlison appears to have stoked the Reds' first even more by insisting Liverpool's key man Van Dijk is not all he's cracked up to be.
The Brazilian has named THREE centre-backs that he feels are better than the Dutch defender, who was runner-up for the 2019 Ballon d'Or, and has boasted that he is one of the few players to dribble past him.
It's a bold statement from the forward, especially given that it's almost TEN YEARS since Everton last registered a win against their Red rivals, while he has scored just one goal in four games against Liverpool in a Toffees shirt.
When asked about Van Dijk in an interview with Brazilian YouTube channel Desimpedidos, Richarlison said: "People talk a lot about him, yes he is a great defender but I've already dribbled past him.
"He was chosen as one of the top three in the world as he had an excellent season. But yes, for me there are better defenders."
Richarlison may have dribbled past Van Dijk, but he's only ever scored one goal against the Reds and has never beaten them in an Everton shirt
When asked to name the players he believes are better than Van Dijk, Richarlison replied: "Thiago Silva, Marquinhos and Sergio Ramos."
Meanwhile, Jurgen Klopp has issued a warning to his Liverpool side about Carlo Ancelotti's men this weekend, admitting that his players will not immediately be right back to their best after a three-month break from action.
"When you analyse Everton now you have to look as well to Napoli or any other team because Carlo Ancelotti has a specific way he wants his team to play and he is long enough there now to push that through," said Klopp.
"So, it will be a football-playing side, they will play as much football as we let them. We have to find challenges, win challenges, use gaps, find gaps and all that stuff.
Klopp's side are two wins away from securing the title, but the German has insisted they are not getting carried away just yet
"We have to play through, we have to be 100 per cent disciplined, we have to be full of joy, we have to stay greedy before the game, in the game [and] after the game. That's all what we need.
"The pictures we will show the boys will be from Everton before the break obviously, but we don't know exactly – it's for them like for us, we don't change now in four weeks what was good before.
"We just want to play on the highest level and I think we started training all together at a similar time to Everton, so they had exactly the same time, like us, to prepare.
Jamie Redknapp says every football fan should be full of praise and admiration for this current Liverpool team
"We had to do a lot of physical stuff to make the boys ready, we had to do tactical stuff, but it's not that we are all now finished in our preparation because nine weeks, or 10 or 11 weeks, is really longer than we ever had in a summer, so you lose some things.
"Not a lot, but you lose them and you have to remember and we do that on the pitch.
"So there are some things to do until Sunday, in the next three sessions, but how I said, I'm excited and we will try to give our best."