Virgil, the Roman poet, was known for his epic works, in particular, describing personal struggles in fulfilling their destiny. And so his namesake may have just achieved the same in <a href="http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/42514486">finalising his move to Anfield</a>.
Many fantasy football managers have kept (probably rightly) away from the Liverpool defence given the propensity for the Scousers to self-destruct within their back line this season. However looking beyond the superficial reveals another story now and opens up the possibility that this is the time to move Van Dijk into our FPL teams.
Liverpool currently are in a strong fourth place in the league with 23 goals conceded, which amazingly is two less than Arsenal and three more than Spurs. So far this month they have only conceded five goals in six games (including the 3-3 with Arsenal) and half their games in the Premier League have ended with clean sheets points. And January, apart from a visit from Man City, looks promising with matches against Burnley, Swansea and Huddersfield.
Van Dijk himself gives us many reasons to consider him seriously as a potential fantasy option. He represents a good differential as currently only 2.1% of FPL managers have so far opted for his services. He is relatively cheap at £5.4 million and didn&#8217;t exactly play a lot in the early season, so should be relatively fresh and able to play during the tough winter and spring period ahead.
He also is a man mountain, standing at over 6ft 4 tall. His aerial ability is excellent, for example in GW11 he won eleven aerial duels and even had three &#8220;shots&#8221; on goal. Furthermore given this skill set he has scored highly in the CBI (clearance, block and interceptions) element of points scoring. His first season for Southampton saw him achieve sixteen bonus points and three goals. The following season he only played 21 games (due to injuries) yet was still able to score fourteen bonus points.
The Liverpool team could still <a href="https://threemenandafootball.wordpress.com/2017/09/14/liverpool-what-could-or-should-have-been/">be better balanced</a> overall, including shoring up their defensive midfield but Van Dijk&#8217;s pricey purchase is nonetheless a step in the right direction for Klopp. You can imagine him getting on the end of a few decent crosses from Coutinho, Firmino and Salah and grabbing a few clean sheets to boot.
Whatever he cost Liverpool they will surely be happy if he helps them to clinch a Champions League spot. And we, therefore, should also be considering him as a real possibility in our teams as well.
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A shrewd purchase for Klopp and for you?

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