One statistical report has revealed that Virgil van Dijk and Joel Matip ranked as the top centre-back pairing across the Premier League in the past 10 seasons for expected goals against.
Both were brought to the club by Jurgen Klopp across his time at the club in contrasting circumstances. Van Dijk arrived for £75m and quickly became a transformative signing helping to lead them to trophy successes as he established himself as one of the best in his position in European football
While Matip was signed on a free transfer and the expectations surrounding him were far different but he quickly developed into a key player. He played 201 times for the club and started in the UEFA Champions League victory over Tottenham in 2019. He departed at the end of last season after his contract expired but he was an integral member of the Klopp-era and one of their best signings across that period all things considered.
Liverpool’s defence was highly regarded across the time in which both played together. Across their Premier League career, the duo played together 84 times in the league, winning 59 times, drawing 19 and losing just six – that’s a win percentage of 70%. For reference, that’s higher than Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand who recorded a 69% win rate across their illustrious partnership.
In regards to the aforementioned figures, Understat revealed Van Dijk and Matip recorded an expected goals conceded 0.76 across those 84 games, placing them top of any centre-back pairing with a minimum of 17 games since 2014. Second on the list was Manchester City duo Aymeric Laporte and Ruben Dias in the 2021/22 season (0.78) and third was Chelsea’s John Terry and Gary Cahill in the 2014/15 season with (0.86).
