Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk knows all about playing against Manchester City and the players they have.
At the age of 33, the defender has played against City 19 times, leaving only Arsenal (20) as the club he’s faced off with on more occasions.
Out of those 19 games, which have come in the Premier League, FA Cup, Champions League and Community Shield, Van Dijk has been on the winning side seven times, drawing six and losing six.
With the centre-back now in the midst of his 10th Premier League season, he has shared some details about the relationship he has with one particular player in City’s squad.
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Virgil van Dijk names Man City star as one of his best mates
Appearing in a recent video uploaded to the TNT Sports YouTube channel where he had to answer a series of questions, Van Dijk said this after naming Nathan Ake as one of his closest friends in football.
He said: “We became good friends over the years and [our] families are close to each other as well.”
How many times have Van Dijk and Ake played with and against each other?
As an opponent, Van Dijk has faced off against Ake on 13 occasions, winning nine, drawing three and losing one.
However, as an international teammate, the Liverpool star has played with the £160k-a-week City defender 43 times for the Netherlands.
Taking that into account and the fact that they are both defenders who have spent a significant amount of time playing in England and currently play for clubs fairly close together geographically, it’s understandable why they would be friends.
Interestingly, former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher named Ake as the type of player that the Merseyside club need in their squad.
Given how Van Dijk has revealed how close he is with the City star, who has won four Premier League trophies in his four years at the Etihad Stadium, it’d be safe to assume that he’d love to see Liverpool bring Ake to Anfield.
