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Liverpool put in another tepid display on Sunday to suffer their first away defeat of the Premier League season.
The Reds have been brilliant on the road this term, going an impressive 15 games unbeaten.
The 16th proved a step too far, though, with Liverpool far from their best in west London against Fulham.
Although there were poor performances across the whole pitch, the biggest issue on the day stemmed from the Liverpool defence, and – surprisingly – from Virgil van Dijk.
The Dutchman has had another excellent season, but Van Dijk struggled against Everton in midweek and was even worse on Sunday.
Having failed to get to grips with Everton target man Beto, he also couldn’t deal with Fulham’s Rodrigo Muniz, a big striker in a similar mould.
And once the dust settled on Fulham’s win, Muniz made his feelings clear about his battle with the Liverpool captain.
Photo by Harry Murphy – Danehouse/Getty Images
Muniz has history against Liverpool.
The Brazilian scored at Anfield in December to put Fulham into the lead.
That day the 23-year-old started from the bench, but after being given a start on Sunday, he made life really difficult for both Van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate all game long.
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As well as taking his goal really well, the post-match statistics bore out that Muniz had bullied both Liverpool centre-backs.
“Virgil van Dijk won 40% of his duels against Fulham, his lowest in a Premier League game for Liverpool when contesting 10 or more,” Squawka posted on X after the match.
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“Ibrahima Konate only did slightly better, winning 5/10, as both centre-backs struggled to deal with Rodrigo Muniz.
“The Fulham striker won more duels than any other player in the pitch (10),” the data collection company continnue.
“And more fouls than any other Fulham player (3), as well as scoring an excellent goal after leaving VVD for dead. What a performance.”
As if this collection of statistics was not bad enough for Van Dijk – and Konate – Muniz took to his own X account to react to them.
The former Flamengo striker retweeted Squawka, posted a handshake emoji, a praise emoji and a white heart.
After dominating against two of the best centre-backs in the Premier League, it’s hard to begrudge Muniz his moment in the spotlight.
From a Liverpool point of view, Arne Slot addressed Van Dijk’s poor performance after the game, insisting that he was not worried about his captain.
While the 33-year-old is surely allowed a dip like any other player, the Reds could do with him finding his imperious form once again for the run in.
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