Liverpool take on FC Barcelona in the Champions League semi-finals early next month and the whole world is watching to witness the battle Virgil Van Dijk and Lionel Messi.
Messi once again showed his class when he tore down Man United in the quarter-finals second-leg at the Camp Nou earlier this week and it is safe to say be will be itching to run at the Liverpool defence.
But in Virgil Van Dijk, the Argentine faces perhaps his biggest challenge this season as right now, the Dutchman is easily the best defender in the world.
While all eyes will certainly be on the Messi vs Van Dijk duel but we feel the ties will be won on the other side of the central defence.
Van Dijk will either be partnered by Dejan Lovren or Joel Matip and in all honesty, the likes of Coutinho and Luis Suarez can easily take the mickey out of them.
It is no secret that Jurgen Klopp will deploy Van Dijk and maybe one midfielder to keep Lionel Messi at bay but what happens on the other areas of the pitch should truly dictate the game.
With all due to respect, both Matip and Lovren are not top class defenders and even Klopp knows that if someone like Suarez or even Messi can find themselves one-on-one with either one of them then it is very likely we will see a Phil Jones V2.0
And this is where we feel that Fabinho will play a key role.
The Brazilian has taken his own sweet time to adjust at Liverpool but during the past couple of months, he has been superb in almost every outing for the Reds. And we feel he will have to take up that added responsibility to screen the back-line.
Both Alexander Arnold and Robertson are world class full-back but they are obviously more inclined to go forward and test out opponents.
So what happens when a winger decides to run at them in full throttle?
Well, we saw a glimpse of that during the game vs Bayern at Anfield when Gnabry chose to run at Robertson a few times and the Scott looked a completely different player.
Now, what happens when a Dembele or Suarez runs into the channels in order to find space?
It is will utterly crucial how Liverpool’s two full-backs come up with all the pressure and if Robertson and Arnold came come out with solid performances then surely Barcelona can be kept at bay.
