Virgil van Dijk will be reminded of one of his most frustrating nights as a Liverpool player when the Netherlands face the USA in the World Cup round of 16 on Saturday.
Having gone unbeaten at Anfield in the Premier League for nearly five years since joining the Reds in January 2018, Van Dijk's imperious run of 70 games was ended when Leeds came to town in October. The Yorkshire side snatched a last-gasp 2-1 win and central to Leeds' triumph was midfielder Tyler Adams, now the captain of the USA aged just 23.
Picked up from RB Leipzig over the summer for £20m, Adams was outstanding on Merseyside and manager Jesse Marsch, his compatriot and former boss at Leipzig, raved about him post-match. "For me Tyler Adams has been one of the best players on the pitch every game we played," Marsch declared following his side's shock victory.
"I'm not surprised to see him deliver like that. I think he’s had a great season, it was tough not having him last week. He's very important to our team."
And not only has the New-York born dynamo been impressive on the Premier League stage, but he's made his mark on and off the pitch in Qatar. Helping the USA to finish runners-up behind England in Group B, he'll lead the Stars and Stripes into their last-16 clash with Netherlands.
Although Adams and co aren't the favourites to advance, they've also got another player who Van Dijk has struggled against for Liverpool. Christian Pulisic, the star of the USA's attack, has been cleared to play after going off injured during their crucial 1-0 win against Iran on Tuesday.
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Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)Pulisic made the Dutch defender look "lazy" by scoring for Chelsea during last season's 2-2 thriller at Stamford Bridge. Ex-Premier League striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink slammed Van Dijk for his error letting the Blues winger get away from him.
"It's lazy, isn't it?" Hasselbaink told Sky Sports after Liverpool legend Graeme Souness had criticised the Reds stalwart's efforts. "Why has Van Dijk not come across there? He's just running in a straight line back to his goal," Souness bemoaned. "Come over, come over, come over - he's not even sprinting."
So, as Van Dijk prepares to face both Adams and Pulisic again - this time on the same team - the 31-year-old best be prepared. "[It's a] huge opportunity for us," Adams told ESPN ahead of facing Holland. "It's going to be an amazing game. I think we've obviously played good competition here.
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Marc Atkins/Getty Images)"Like England, the Netherlands could be another favourite to win the World Cup. They've done really well, how they navigated through their group phase of the tournament so far.
"They have some amazing players. We're going to have to be ready for that game, but I think right now we enjoy this moment, have some downtime to relax and recover now, [and then] mentally focus. The coaches will come up with a game plan. It's time for us to execute it."
