Strikers get spooked by the aura of world-class defenders and tend to avoid them altogether — especially Van Dijk

Away from the television cameras, though, is where Van Dijk also scores. Journalists who regularly cover Liverpool spend a large chunk of their time after matches loitering in the mixed zone, the area where the assembled hacks attempt to grab a word or two from players of both teams as they walk through on their way out of the stadium.