Virgil van Dijk is Liverpool's first boss since Jamie Carragher, says Emile Heskey

warrior

According to former Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Virgil van Dijk is the club's first boss since Jamie Carragher.

Van Dijk became the most expensive defender in the world after joining the Reds in a £ 75m contract with Southampton in January 2018.

He has played in all 32 Premier League games this season, just one point ahead of leaders in Manchester City.

And Heskey, who played 228 appearances with Liverpool in four years from 2000, compared Van Dijk's leadership skills with Carragher's leadership skills.

The former center of the Reds was still in defense during his stay at Anfield and was part of the team that returned from three goals against AC Milan to win the Champions League in 2005.

Heskey, 41, told betoclock.com: "Virgil van Dijk is one of the players on the leading team, and that has not happened since Jamie Carragher left.

"Someone who barks orders and gets them out of tricky situations.

"It's the player that his teammates can admire and that's the type they rely on."

While Manchester City faces Brighton in the FA Cup on Saturday, live on talkSPORT, Liverpool has the opportunity to regain the top spot in the Premier League when it will visit Friday night in Southampton, city threatened by relegation, a match also live on talkSPORT.

Jurgen Klopp's men will be delighted after their last-minute victory against Tottenham last weekend.

Heskey added, "The Spurs game was a big win for Liverpool, but they have to keep up the pressure on Man City, especially when they play so well.

"It will be difficult for Man City with the number of matches to come, but Liverpool will simply maintain momentum.

"There is so much pressure on each team, but Man City will feel extra pressure if Liverpool gets another result tomorrow night.

"Liverpool would rather have the points in the bag, which they could continue to win if they continued to win."