Joel Matip has unique ability no other Premier League defender can match

It can be tough to shine in a defence that contains Virgil Van Dijk. The Dutchman is regarded by many as the best centre-back in Europe, most likely in the world too. And this has been the case for the best part of four years.

And yet, Joel Matip’s performance levels this season means that he’s been able to do just that. There was an expectancy that with the arrival of Ibrahima Konate, plus the return of Joe Gomez, Matip’s place in the Liverpool defensive pecking order would fall.

Yet the reality has been quite the opposite. He’s been Van Dijk’s most consistent partner and is on course to accumulate his most Premier League appearance in a single season, something he will achieve should he play in seven of Liverpool’s remaining nine league matches.

And providing there are no injury set-backs, something that’s plagued much of Matip’s Anfield career, you’d back him to achieve that goal.

The 30-year-old’s impressive performances were publicly rewarded last month when he scooped the Premier League’s Player of the Month award. That’s routinely a prize reserved for attacking players, with the last central defender to win it being coincidentally Van Dijk back in 2018. You'd have to go way back to 2013 for the last time a non-Liverpool defender won it - Spurs’ Jan Vertonghen.

Although the award came predominantly in recognition for his performances in the month of February, a run of four games which included a goal against Leeds, Reds fans who have watched him all year would be quick to point out that such good displays have been consistent throughout the whole campaign.

His success rates in terms of defensive duels (70 per cent) and aerial duels (62 per cent) unsurprisingly rank amongst the league’s best in his position, yet