ARNE SLOT has opened up on the remarkable story of the time he played against Virgil van Dijk back in 2013.
Liverpool boss Slot incredibly lined up against his now-club captain during a Dutch league game some 11 years ago.
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Slot, 46, has impressed massively since taking over at Anfield this summer, with the Reds top of the table having conceded just two league goals in seven games.
No small part of his success is thanks to the imperious Van Dijk who has long been one of the best centre-halves in the Premier League – if not the world.
But Slot once faced off against Van Dijk when the Netherlands international was rising through the ranks in his home country.
The pair came face-to-face in 2013 during a match between Slot’s FC Zwolle and Van Dijk’s Groningen in the Eredivisie – a clash that ended with Groningen winning 1-0.
Discussing that day with Men in Blazers, Slot joked: “Virgil was lucky that I only came on 10 minutes before the end. That’s why he could keep a clean sheet.”
Slot – who was a midfielder during his playing days – hung up his boots at the end of that season, while Van Dijk was just starting out his career and was only 22 at the time.
Even with his wealth of experience under his belt, Slot couldn’t have predicted that a young Van Dijk would one day be one of the best centre-backs around.
He added: “Everybody thought that Virgil was a very talented and good centre-back, but it was a bit strange that no top clubs came in for him.
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“He had to go to Celtic first and then to the Premier League to become such a star player for Liverpool.
“If you would have asked me back then ‘would you expect him to be the new centre-back at Liverpool?’, I probably would have said no.
“If you would have asked him ‘did you expect to play against your new manager?’, he would probably have said no as well”.
Slot will be hoping his star defender is on top form when his side welcome Chelsea to Anfield on Sunday.
The league leaders will need to be on top form to stop Enzo Maresca’s transformed Blues.
Only Manchester City have scored more goals than Chelsea in the league this season with the Stamford Bridge outfit bouncing back from a lacklustre campaign last term.
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